Glass 
Book 



THE 

PHENOMENA OF SPIRITUALISM. 



THE 



PHENOMENA OF SPIRITUALISM 



by/the 

REV. ASA MAHAN, D.D., 

FIRST PRESIDENT OF OBERLIN COLLEGE, OHIO, 

Author of " Science of Intellectual Philosophy," " Science of Logic" "Doctrine of the 
Will" "Science of Moral Philosophy " etc. 



" There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, 
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy," 




HODDER AND STOUGHTON, 
27, PATERNOSTER ROW. 



MDCCCLXXV. 




Watson and Hazell, Printers, London and Aylesbury. 



PREFACE. 



ERHAPS we cannot better introduce the reader 



to the treatise before him, than by giving a short 
statement of the circumstances which led us to adopt 
the views therein developed in regard to Spiritualism, 
jince the year 1850, our residence has been in several 
>f the grand centres of this movement, and where, 
consequently, the mysterious phenomena were con- 
.nuously forced upon our attention. One of the cir- 
cumstances which first impressed our mind as we 
reflected upon what was passing before us, was the 
utter incompatibility of the fundamental character- 
istics of these facts, as reported even by spiritualists 
themselves, with the supposition that they are the 
intended results of intelligent minds who are com- 
municating with us from the heavenly or infernal 
world. By no laws of mind known to us could we 
account for the facts by a reference to such an origin. 
When they were referred to good spirits, our reply 
was : good spirits cannot falsify as these do ; for these 




vi 



Preface. 



falsify when spirits, if present, cannot but know the 
truth ; profess knowledge when they must know 
themselves ignorant, and make positive affirmations 
when they must know that they are only guessing. 
Good spirits cannot thus act. When they were re- 
ferred to bad spirits, our reply was : these spirits do 
not lie like men in the flesh, nor as any spirits would 
do whose conduct is governed by any laws known 
to us. There is a certain "method" even in lying, 
wherever it appears, and here is lying which has no 
such method, or any method at all which can pro- 
perly be ascribed to spirits aiming at some intelligent 
end, good or bad. When individuals told us that 
they had had communications with their spirit friends, 
our reply was : the spirit here speaking says some 
things that that of your mother, if present, might 
and no doubt would say. Your mother, however, 
when alive and with you, never falsified as this spirit 
does, and would not thus falsify, if now present. We 
therefore rejected the ab extra spirit hypothesis, as 
wholly incompatible with the facts. 

We were first led to refer the facts to tricks of the 
mediums. Soon, however, we were confronted with 
phenomena wholly incompatible with such a supposi- 
tion. We met, for example, with evidences, which 
we could not resist and maintain our integrity, of the 
reality of physical manifestations of a very startling 
and impressive character. We ourselves personally 



Preface. 



witnessed such facts as we could account for by no 
reference to conscious or unconscious muscular action- 
We also met with individuals of the first intelligence 
and integrity, and who utterly repudiate the spirit 
theory, who had themselves witnessed such pheno- 
mena. In the Congregational Society's Rooms in 
Boston, for example, an orthodox Congregational 
clergyman, of unquestionable intelligence and in- 
tegrity, affirmed to us, in the presence of several other 
clergymen, that on one occasion he saw a medium 
place her hands gently upon a marble-topped table, 
no other person being near ; that after holding them 
there awhile, the object began to move after her 
around the room, that he himself got under the table, 
and taking hold of its legs, attempted to hold it still, 
and that he was, with the table, drawn quite a distance 
over the floor, all his efforts to the contrary notwith- 
standing. From many others we received precisely 
similar and equally credible statements. We found, 
then, that we had to admit the facts, or take the 
ground that no strange events can be established by 
testimony. How, then, could we ask the world to 
believe in Christian miracles ? We found equally 
valid evidence for the reality of the facts of Spiritual- 
ism, as far as the intelligent communications are con- 
cerned.- We found ourselves necessitated, therefore, 
in moral honesty, to admit the facts, and then to seek 
an explanation of them on some mundane hypothesis, 



viii 



Preface. 



as their character precluded any other supposition 
than their exclusively mundane origin. 

As we reflected upon the facts under consideration, 
we were forcibly struck with this suggestion, that 
they seemed evidently to imply the existence in 
nature of a polar force not yet distinctly recognised 
in philosophy, a force having, when developed, very 
strong attractive and repulsive power ; a force, the 
direction of whose action, when certain conditions are 
fulfilled, accords with mental states, and is determined 
by the same ; a force, finally, through which the 
mental states of one mind may be reproduced in 
others, and thus embodied, as in these communica- 
tions. The existence of precisely such a force seemed 
demanded by the facts, whether we supposed it 
governed, in the production of these manifestations, 
by spirits in the body or out of the body. We were 
also deeply impressed with the obvious correspondence 
of these manifestations, physical and mental, with the 
phenomena of mesmerism and clairvoyance, on the 
one hand, and those of another class which from time 
to time have, in all ages, startled and troubled man- 
kind, and which philosophers now refer to a power in 
nature denominated the Odylic Force, on the other. 
This led to a careful examination and classification of 
each of these classes of phenomena, and to an equally 
careful comparison of the results thus obtained with 
the spirit-phenomena, physical and intellectual. 



Preface. 



IX 



The following are some of the conclusions to which 
we were thus conducted : I. There is in nature a force 
having the identical properties above specified, and 
which we denominate the Odylic Force. 2. This 
force is identical with the cause of all the mesmeric 
and clairvoyant phenomena, on the one hand, and 
with the immediate cause of these manifestations, on 
the other. 3. By a reference to the properties and 
laws of this force as developed in the spirit-circles, 
and to its relations to the minds constituting the same, 
we can account most fully for all the spirit-phe- 
nomena, of every kind, without the supposition of the 
presence or agency of disembodied spirits. Con- 
sequently, the hypothesis of Spiritualism is wholly 
unsustained by any valid evidence whatever. 4. The 
entire real facts of Spiritualism demand the supposi- 
tion that this force in the production of these com- 
munications is controlled exclusively, for the most 
part unconsciously, by the minds in the circles, and 
not by disembodied spirits out of the same. 5. We 
finally found, what we did not at first expect, that we 
had developed facts and principles which gave an 
equally ready and satisfactory explanation of the 
phenomena of witchcraft, necromancy, fortune-telling, 
etc., etc., phenomena which from time to time have 
been the wonder and terror of mankind in all ages. 
6. Other consequences of equal and far greater im- 
portance seemed undeniably to follow from our facts 



X 



Preface. 



and deductions. The results of our investigations 
the reader will find embodied in the following treatise. 

Facts of recent occurrence have fully prepared the 
public mind, as we judge, to receive a scientific ex- 
planation of the real phenomena of Spiritualism, the 
impositions of the system having been so fully ex- 
posed. Since the following treatise was put into the 
printer's hands, in every remaining place not therein 
referred to, where ghosts have been professedly 
exhibited — in the United States, for example — the 
impositions have been fully exposed, " the spirits" 
having been caught, and demonstrated to be men or 
women in the flesh. With these suggestions the work 
before us is commended to the careful and candid 
examination of the reader. 

THE AUTHOR. 



London, April 2>]th, 1875. 



CONTENTS. 



INTRODUCTION. 

PAGE 

The Diverse Theories pertaining to these Phenomena, and the 
Methods of Inquiry, and Laws of Evidence, by which any 
one of them can be Verified (The Humbug Theory, The 
Satanic Agency Theory, The Spiritualistic Theory, The 
Mundane Theory) ; The Affirmed Visible, Tangible, and 
Audible Manifestations of Spiritualism ; Photography and 
Spiritualism ; Levitation ; Concluding Remarks, and Plan of 
the Treatise ..... . ... I— 77 

CHAPTER I. 

ELECTRICITY, MAGNETISM, AND ANIMAL MAGNETISM 
DISTINGUISHED. 

Effects of Animal Magnetism upon the Human System . . 78 — 94 



CHAPTER IL 

THE ODYLIC, ODIC, OR PSYCHIC FORCE. 

Physical Manifestations ; The Odylic Force identical with that 
which is the immediate cause of the Spirit-Manifestations ; 



xii 



Contents. 



PACK 

The immediate cause of these Manifestations identical with 
that from which result all the Phenomena of Mesmerism and 
Clairvoyance . 95 — x 43 



CHAPTER III. 

PHYSICAL AND INTELLECTUAL MANIFESTATIONS 
ELUCIDATED. 

The Exclusively Physical Phenomena; Affirmed Intellectual 
Communications ; The Three Classes of Mediums ; A Large 
and Essential Portion of these Affirmed Spirit-Communica- 
tions have an Exclusively "Mundane Origin . . . 144 — 185 



CHAPTER IV. 

POSITIVE AND CONCLUSIVE PROOF THAT ALL THESE 
COMMUNICATIONS AND MANIFESTATIONS ARE THE 
EXCLUSIVE RESULT OF MUNDANE CAUSES, AND NOT 
OF THE AGENCY OF DISEMBODIED SPIRITS. 

The Admitted Fact, that an Essential Part of these Phenomena 
are Undeniably Originated by Exclusively Mundane Causes, 
Requires, without absolute proof to the contrary, that they all 
be Referred to the same Causes ; No New, and none but 
Exclusively Mundane, Truths are Represented in these Com- 
munications ; All these Communications take Specific Form 
from the Known Sentiments in the Particular Circles in 
which said Communications Originate ; Known Excep- 
tions Confirm the Deductions under Consideration ; The 
Character of the Affirmed Spirit-thoughts, as Contrasted 
with the Known Life-thoughts of Individuals, Evince the 



Contents. 



xiii 



former as having none but a Mundane Origin ; Revelations . 
which do not, as Contrasted with those which do. Originate 
in these Circles, Confirm the same Conclusion ; The General 
Intellectual Character of these Communications Demonstrate 
their Non-Spirit Origin ; Fundamental Facts Developed by 
Individuals through Inquiries made for self-satisfaction in 
regard to the Origin and Cause of these Phenomena, Indivi- 
duals who had Formed no Definite Theory upon the Subject ; 
The same Responses and the same Evidence of Spirit- 
presence, can be Obtained from the Spirits of Individuals yet 
alive, but supposed to be dead, as from the Spirits of Persons 
actually dead ; Similar Responses are Obtained in these 
Circles, by devoted Spiritualists, from the spirits of persons 
actually alive, but supposed to be dead ; Most Decisive 
Observations and Experiments made by Individuals of the 
highest intelligence and integrity, for the specific purpose of 
Determining the Nature and Location of the Cause of these 
Phenomena (Very Interesting and Decisive Facts furnished by 
one of our former Pupils ; Facts which occurred at the house of 
the Rev. Starr King ; Important Facts furnished by Dr. Bell ; 
The Statements of Dr. Bell confirmed by kindred ones from 
N. I. Bowditch, Esq. ; Important Facts furnished by a New 
England Congregational Clergyman ; Interesting and Illus- 
trative Facts furnished by a Pastor of one of the Churches 
in the City of Cleveland, Ohio) ; A Peculiar Class of False 
Answers continually Obtained in these Circles Evince the 
Exclusively Mundane Origin of these Phenomena ; En- 
quiries made for the Specific purpose of Determining, not 
only the Location of the Controlling Cause of these Phe- 
nomena, but of the Extent of the Control which could be 
Exercised over these Phenomena ; Important Evidence 
Obtained from the Observations and Testimony of Indi- 
viduals who have themselves been Mediums ; Disagreements 
and Contradictions in these Communications Incompatible 
with the idea of their Extra-mundane Origin ; False Com- 
munications which can be accounted for but upon the 
Mundane Hypothesis ....... 1S6 — 326 



xiv 



Contents. 



CHAPTER V. 

TENDENCY OF SPIRITUALISM. 

PAG 

Section I. Tendency of Spiritualism to the Good or 111 of 
Mankind Physically ; Section II. Tendency of Spiritualism 
to Benefit or Injure Mankind Intellectually (Spiritualism 
not a Reliable Source of Information ; Spiritualism has not 
Benefited the World, as far as Science is Concerned; 
Spiritualism itself utterly wanting in all the Characteristics 
of a truly Scientific Movement, Spiritualism has done 
nothing to Improve the Literature of Humanity) ; Section 
III. Moral Tendency of Spiritualism (Summary Statement 
of the Tendencies of Spiritualism) .... 327 — 37 

CHAPTER VI. 

MISCELLANEOUS TOPICS. 

Section I. Special Facts connected with Spiritualism (Copying the 
Voice, Manner, and Handwriting of Individuals, Tactual 
Impressions, Seeing Spirits) ; Section II. Phenomena of 
Dreaming, and Premonitions of Future Events (Analagous 
Facts of Common Occurrence in Every-day Life) ; Section 
III. Phenomena of Ghost-seeing and Haunted Houses ; 
Section IV. Witchcraft, Fortune -Telling, Manner in which 
Mysterious Events are Commonly Treated ; Section V, These 
so-called Spirit-Manifestations and Scripture Miracles, Bear- 
ing of our previous Discussions upon «the Doctrine of a 
General and Particular Providence, Conclusion . . 372 — 42 



PHENOMENA OF SPIRITUALISM 



SCIENTIFICALLY EXPLAINED AND EXPOSED. 



INTRODUCTION. 

A GENTLEMAN, while in Egypt, asked an intelligent 
citizen of that country what he really thought of 
their most celebrated necromancer. The reply re- 
ceived was this : " I regard him as pretty much of a 
humbug. Yet, I think that there is something real 
in the art which he practises. " If we will carefully 
scrutinize the public sentiment of Europe and 
America, we shall find, we judge, that the above 
answer most correctly expresses the popular con- 
viction in respect to modern Spiritualism. That the 
great mass of phenomena presented under that name 
is gross humbuggery and imposition, no well-informed 
individual, who would maintain his self-respect, will 
question. That, at the basis of these phenomena, 
there are important facts requiring a scientific ex- 

I 



2 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



planation, the most intelligent men, who have made 
the nearest approach to these facts, do not entertain 
any doubt. The celebrated juggler, Signor Blitz, 
for example, after the most careful scrutiny of these 
phenomena, affirmed, that there were facts there 
which the art he practised could never explain. 
Such has been the result of our researches after a 
correct knowledge of the real character and cause 
of these phenomena. As a teacher of youth, and 
president of important colleges, we ever regarded it 
as an important duty to be well informed on our 
part in respect to all subjects of public interest, 
that we might be qualified so to instruct our pupils 
that they should be able to distinguish between truth 
and error. Discerning, as we early did, the fact, 
that the so-called spirit-phenomena would become 
objects of even world-wide interest, we at once com- 
menced a careful inquiry into their real character 
and causes. We commenced our investigations with 
the distinct and avowed impression, that all these 
phenomena were the exclusive result of trickery and 
imposture. We had not proceeded far in our in- 
vestigations, however, before we found ourselves 
confronted with palpable facts which admitted of 
no such explanation. We found, for example, that 
individuals could go into these spirit-circles, and 
there obtain specific answers to any number of 
purely mental questions, and that, too, when the 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 3 



questions pertained to facts so remote and foreign 
to all minds but their own in the circles, as to 
preclude the possibility of trickery or deception. 
We will, for example, go into any circle in any 
part of England, a circle which can, by no possi- 
bility, know anything whatever of us or of our 
place of residence. When the proper conditions 
have been fulfilled, we will ask the question : Is 
the spirit we are now thinking of present ? the 
spirit being that of our mother. On receiving an 
affirmative answer, we will request the spirit -to 
answer the question which we now mentally put, 
the question being: Will you designate the names 
of your children, and that in the order of their 
birth ? These specific names, in the order mentally 
designated, will be given. Facts of a precisely 
similar character, as will be rendered demonstrably 
evident in the progress of this treatise, are being 
repeated in thousands of circles, the world over. 
In regard to the so-called physical phenomena, 
" deeds of darkness" excepted, we found that w r e 
could produce them ourselves, and that upon ob- 
jects of our own selection, and when alone in our 
own room ; and we obtained undeniable evidence 
of the existence of precisely similar facts wherever 
proper experiments were tried. From such unde- 
niable facts, the existence of which will be hereafter 
abundantly verified, we deduced two inferences : 



4 



Phenomena of Spiritualism 



that there is a power, or force, in nature — a force 
not yet generally recognised by scientists — a force 
which, when developed from any cause, occasions 
these wonders ; and that, in the spirit-circles, this 
force is so controlled, and that by some intelligent 
cause, as to secure specific responses to our most 
secret thoughts. 

From these facts spiritualists infer that it is 
spirits outside of this mundane sphere that control 
this force in the production of these phenomena. 
With this exposition in mind, we return to the 
case of our mother. In answer to a purely mental 
question, the real names of all her children have 
been given, and that in the specific order above 
designated. For the purpose of self-satisfaction in 
regard to the question whether it is, in fact, the 
spirit of our mother, or any extra-mundane spirit, 
that is communicating with us, we, mentally as 
before, request a second answer to the question 
previously put, mentally suggesting, at the same 
time, that great care shall be used to give the 
right answer, as important deductions may be based 
upon the answer received. The answer received in 
the first case, the correct one too, was, Asa, Polly, 
Betsey. The response, in this second case, is, 
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. We here state 
cases which, as we shall show hereafter, are per- 
fectly parallel to facts everywhere occurring in these 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed, 5 

circles, whenever and wherever thinkers visit them, 
and put questions there with wise discretion and 
full self-possession. In reflecting upon these cases 
we call to mind the conscious fact, that at the time 
w r hen each name was designated, our thought was 
directed to that specific name, and so directed in 
the first three cases without reflecting upon any 
inferences to be deduced from the answers received, 
and in the last three for the specific purpose of 
obtaining facts for the solution of an important 
problem in science. The facts strictly common to 
these two cases are these : that, in each case alike, 
there was a definite response to a purely mental 
question, of the character of which none but we 
could be conscious ; and that the name given, in 
every instance, accorded with the identical one 
upon which our thought was, at the moment, defi- 
nitely fixed. Hence the question arises, to wit: 
Did our mental states determine the action of the 
force through which these responses were obtained, 
or was the determining cause the mental states of 
a spirit from another sphere ? Here, on the hypo- 
thesis that such facts do exist, we have the question 
imposed upon science to settle. All must agree, as 
we have said, that the action of this force in the 
production of these phenomena, supposing them to 
be real, is determined by the mental states of minds 
within these circles, or by those of spirits from 



6 



Phenomena of Spiritualism 



another sphere. The question for science is : Which 
of these hypotheses is the true one ? 

It may be a matter of interest and profit to the 
reader, perhaps, should we here indicate the method 
of inquiry in conformity to which we have endea- 
voured to obtain a scientific answer to this question. 
Several years ago, an instrument, or machine, called 
Planchette, was very extensively sold and used 
throughout the United States. The instrument con- 
sisted of a thin piece of board fixed upon a frame 
that moved upon wheels or rollers, so arranged that 
the instrument could be readily moved in any direc- 
tion. When a pencil was so fixed to the end of the 
instrument, that the point of the pencil would touch 
a sheet of paper upon the table, all was in readi- 
ness for the desired experiments. When individuals 
place their hands upon the top of the instrument and 
hold them there for a time, it begins to move, and 
letters, sentences, and answers to questions mental 
and verbal, are written out upon that sheet of paper. 
What ' is very peculiar about the Planchette is, 
that by no acts of will can it, by any possibility, 
be made to move the pencil so as to write a single 
letter, word, or sentence. It is only as the ends 
of the fingers touch the surface of the board re- 
ferred to, and all volitions are suspended, that any 
letters, words, or sentences will be written out. 
Here, spiritualists exclaim, is palpable evidence of 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. J 



the agency of spirits in moving the instrument so 
as to produce these results. A company of edu- 
cated minds formed themselves into a circle for the 
purpose of discovering the specific cause of these 
phenomena. After the most careful and extended 
investigation, they found that the most fixed rela- 
tion existed between every one of these phenomena 
and a specific, and corresponding, mental state pre- 
existing in some mind, or minds, within the circle. 
So it was found everywhere, when corresponding 
inquiries were made, and Planchette took its place 
among the abortions of the past. 

About this time, another instrument was invented, 
and called Planchette Out-done. On a thin board 
circles were drawn, circles within one another, and 
circles from the centre of which lines were drawn 
to such words as Yes and No, to the days of the 
week, and to numerals from one to one hundred, etc. 
Taking between the fingers the end of a silk thread, 
to the other end of which a small metallic ball was 
affixed, and holding the ball over the centre of these 
circles, we might put any questions we pleased, and 
the motion of the ball would be in the directions 
which would indicate specific answers to said ques- 
tions. Here, as before, spiritualists affirmed the 
demonstrated presence of spirit-agency. Wishing to 
determine the real character and cause of these facts, 
we approached the instrument in this manner : with- 



1 



8 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

holding vision totally from the location of any words 
and figures upon the circles, we held the ball as 
required, and asked the question : Am I about to 
take a journey ? it being my purpose to do so. 
Under these circumstances, the ball absolutely re- 
fused to move in any direction. We willed it to 
move, and entreated the spirits, if any were present 
who had the power to do so, to move that ball in 
some direction. There it remained, however, utterly 
motionless. At length, w T e looked out the locality of 
the term Yes, and then repeated the question : Am 
I about to take a journey ? Instantly the ball moved 
in the direction which indicated the right answer. In 
utter ignorance of the locality of the name of any 
day of the week, I then put the question : On what 
day of the week shall I start on this journey? In 
this state of things, no action of my will, nor any 
" spirit from the vasty deep," would move that ball. 
When the inquiry was repeated, after the location 
of the right day was known, the right answer was 
obtained. The same identical facts attended the 
inquiries : How long shall I be absent from home ? 
What is my age ? and many others. We from 
hence drew the following deductions : that there may 
be in nature a force whose activity is determined by 
mental states — a force not yet, as before stated, 
generally recognised by scientific men ; that in the 
cases under consideration, the mental states deter- 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. g 



mining the action of this force were undeniably 
mundane, and not extra-mundane ; and that we may 
have here a key which will unlock all the mysteries 
of Spiritualism, a principle which will enable us to 
explain all these so-called spirit-phenomena. With 
this specific inquiry distinctly in mind, namely, Is 
the cause of these phenomena mundane or extra- 
mundane ? we have investigated these phenomena, 
These investigations we have pursued after having 
clearly determined what the essential characteristics 
of these facts must be — if their cause is mundane, on 
the one hand, or supra-mundane, on the other. Of 
this fact we are absolutely assured, that when these 
phenomena shall be investigated in accordance with 
a strictly scientific method, all mystery about them 
will disappear, and they will be found to be as 
readily reducible to fixed laws of nature, and as 
explicable by said laws, as are any other classes of 
known facts ; and that, admitting all spirit-facts that 
can, with any show of reason, be affirmed to be real, 
we have no more occasion to call in the agency of 
extra-mundane spirits to explain these facts, than 
we have to do the same thing to explain the facts 
pertaining to the transit of Venus. 



io Phenomena of Spiritualism 

THE DIVERSE THEORIES PERTAINING TO THESE 
PHENOMENA, AND THE METHODS OF INQUIRY, 
AND LAWS OF EVIDENCE BY WHICH ANY ONE 
OF THEM CAN BE VERIFIED. 

Before we can proceed intelligently in the investi- 
gation of any class or classes of facts, we must, first 
of all, settle definitely the proper method of inquiry 
to be observed, and the specific laws of evidence 
applicable in such cases. We propose now to do this 
relatively to the phenomena under consideration. All 
the theories which have been put forward for the 
explanation of these facts may be classed under 
the following denominations, namely, the Humbug 
Theory, that which refers all these phenomena to 
trickery and imposition ; the Satanic Agency Theory, 
that which admits the facts to be real, and their 
determining cause supra-mundane, but affirms that 
cause to be the Father of Lies ; the Spirit Theory, 
that which, not only admits and affirms the facts to 
be real, but refers, for their causes and explanation, to 
the agency of disembodied spirits who have left this 
world ; and the Mundane Theory, that which also 
admits the facts, and refers, for their explanation, to 
mundane causes exclusively. We propose to consider 
each of these theories in the order stated ; our pre- 
sent object being, not to prove or disprove any one 
of them, but to fix and determine the proper method 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed, 1 1 

of inquiry in each case, and the immutable conditions 
on which each can be scientifically verified, provided 
such verification is possible. We begin with 

The Humbug Theory. 

All the other theories, it will be borne in mind, 
admit, that among the so-called spirit-phenomena 
there are real and important facts — facts which have 
no connexion with trickery and imposture, facts 
which require a scientific scrutiny and explanation. 
On what conditions can this Humbug Theory be 
verified ? It is no verification of this theory, we 
reply, to prove that very many and very important 
classes of these so-called spirit-phenomena are de- 
liberate impositions, or even that all of these " dark 
room showings " are of this character. If we grant all 
this, as we readily do, a large residuum of essential 
facts will be left — facts against which no such charge 
has ever yet been sustained. What gave Spiritualism 
its chief influence in America was the fact, that, for a 
long time, its claims were opposed on the hypothesis 
that it was either true, or was, in all its facts, a gross 
and intentional imposition upon the public ; the 
mediums being everywhere able to convince all who 
entered their circles that their leading facts were no 
impositions. The first medium we ever personally 
knew was one of our own pupils, who utterly repu- 
diated Spiritualism in all its claims. In circles in 



12 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

which he was the medium, all the phenomena which 
appeared in any of the spirit-circles were developed, 
and that when all present with him utterly repudiated 
the system under consideration. One of the best 
table-movers I ever saw was an aged and venerable 
member of my own church. At any of our houses, 
or in any circle, he would take a stand or table, and 
after laying his hands or fingers gently upon its sur- 
face for a little time, the object would begin to move, 
and perform antics which no one could induce by any 
manipulations controlled by the will. I can affirm, 
without fear of contradiction, that no well-informed 
American will deny, that in our country all the 
essential physical and intellectual phenomena of 
Spiritualism have been, not only witnessed, but pro- 
duced, in many circles in which no single spiritualist 
was present, and where the exclusive object was to 
determine by experiment what phenomena can be 
developed by the means employed in the spirit- 
circles. Individuals, under such circumstances, have 
no motives for imposing upon themselves or others. 
It is a well-known fact, that in America, in England, 
and on the Continent— in France especially — all the 
essential physical and intellectual spirit-phenomena 
have been produced in circles formed for no other 
purpose than determining by experiment what is and 
is not true in respect to these phenomena. To charge 
such persons with the intention to practise deception 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 13 



upon the public, is but to evince that we ourselves are 
too much the creatures of prejudice to discern facts 
as they are in the world around us. Those who 
would verify this Humbug Theory, must not adduce 
mere admitted deceptions, but take into account the 
facts affirmed by spiritualists in common with intelli- 
gent non-believers in this system — individuals whose 
judgments are based upon independent experiments 
of the most reliable character, and whose veracity is 
unimpeachable. 

The Satanic Agency Theory. 

This theory admits and affirms the phenomena of 
Spiritualism, the phenomena generally claimed to 
be real, and refers them to satanic agency as their 
determining cause. On what conditions can this 
theory be verified ? On three conditions, we answer, 
exclusively : proof that the cause of these facts 
must be extra-mundane, in the first instance ; in 
the next, that this cause cannot be spirits from 
this world, but must be of an exclusively satanic 
character ; and, finally, that these phenomena are 
controlled in accordance with the revealed character 
of the devil as the arch-deceiver of the race. Will 
any thinker attempt to verify all the above pro- 
positions ? each of which must be proven^ or this 
theory must be abandoned. That Satan desires 
that Spiritualism should become the accepted faith 



14 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



of the race, we have no doubt. To prove that even 
the mass of these accepted facts are the exclusive 
results of his direct and immediate agency, is quite 
another matter. If it shall be shown, as we believe 
it will be, that the cause of these phenomena is 
exclusively mundane, then this sa)|tanic hypothesis 
becomes a demonstrated error. If, granting the 
supra-mundane cause of these facts, it should appear 
that we have as good evidence of their being pro- 
duced by departed spirits, as w r e have of their 
satanic origin, then the theory under consideration 
cannot be verified. Finally, if it should appear 
that the revelations of Spiritualism are uniformly 
of an order so low, inane, and so palpably self-con- 
tradictory, as to preclude the idea of their origin 
with such an intelligence as Satan undeniably is, 
the dogma that he is the immediate and exclusive 
author of these revelations becomes absurd. Satan 
may "transform himself into an angel of light." He 
is not, however, a fool. A system of error origi- 
nated by him for the people of this century, it 
is quite safe to say, would bear a character for 
greatness in some respects corresponding to the 
intelligence of this century. Satan must be aware 
of facts in the universe in advance of scientific 
discovery, and events in the world around us in 
advance of our present knowledge. How easy it 
would be for him, in his sovereign control over 



Scie?itijically Explained and Exposed. 15 

these communications, to render his circles reliable 
sources of information on all such subjects, and 
thus impart to Spiritualism itself a most plausible 
verification. Are there circles of this character ? 
The advocates of this Satanic Agency Theory 
must show that such are the real facts of the case, 
or, to be self-consistent, they must abandon their 
theory. If it should be found that these circles 
are, on no subjects not known to us, reliable 
sources of information ; that in respect to facts of 
which we are not informed all these communica- 
tions are void of higher credibility than mere 
imagining, or " prudent guessing," no prudent 
thinker will regard them as controlled by a being 
of such vast powers of knowledge and sources of 
information as Satan undeniably possesses. Satan 
does not care to lie when a lie will not answer his 
end. To suppose that he will lie when a lie will 
defeat, and giving right information will accomplish, 
his ends, is to impute to him greater folly than 
revelation or common sense will allow. 

The Spiritualistic Theory. 
The common doctrine of all who admit the lead- 
ing facts of Spiritualism is, that these phenomena 
are the direct and immediate result of the action of 
some force in nature, by whatever name that force 
is designated ; and that these phenomena are effects 



1 6 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



of the action of the said force as controlled by- 
spirits in the circles or from some extra-mundane 
sphere. This common doctrine implies the exist- 
ence in nature of a force the action of which, 
when the proper conditions are fulfilled, accords 
with, and is controlled by, mental states. The ques- 
tion for science, in this case, is whether these mental 
states pertain to spirits in, or out of, these circles — 
spirits dwelling in bodies in this mundane sphere, 
or coming into these circles from some other spheres. 
The doctrine of Spiritualism is, that the phenomena 
under consideration are produced through the action 
of this force as directed and controlled by the 
mental states of spirits who were once in the flesh 
as members of our race, but are now inhabitants of 
the spirit-realm. Through this force, mankind are 
now in communication with the disembodied realm 
of spiritual existences ; just as in the matter of in- 
tellectual intercourse the people of England are, 
by means of telegraphic and other sources of inter- 
course, in communication with the peoples on the 
other side of the Atlantic. If this is really and 
truly the case, then the two kinds of intercom- 
munication will, and must, have the same essential 
characteristics. In the same essential particulars in 
which one is a reliable, or unreliable, source of in- 
formation, the other will be. We do not send 
messages across, the ocean to obtain answers in 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 17 

respect to questions about which we are as per- 
fectly informed as they are, but to obtain infor- 
mation in respect to subjects about which they may 
be informed and we are ignorant The information 
thus obtained, also, is found to be so reliable that 
the most important business transactions are pru- 
dently regulated by it. If we are through these 
spirit-mediums, also, in real communication with the 
realm of minds, not living in the flesh on the other 
side of the Atlantic, but dwelling in the undis- 
covered country, we shall find that intercommuni- 
cation in this latter case has, in all essential 
particulars, the same characteristics of reliability 
and unreliability as in the former. We have, for 
example, a mother in the spirit-land. While she 
lived these were the fixed characteristics of her 
communications to us. In all particulars in which 
we were both alike well-informed, we, of course, ever 
found her perfectly truthful. Equally trustworthy 
did we invariably and especially find her in respect 
to facts known to her, but about which we were 
ignorant or misinformed. In these relations, with 
perfect reliability, she would with special care en- 
lighten our ignorance, or correct our errors, as the 
case might be. We enter a spirit-circle, and are 
there professedly put into communication with the 
same mind that, while in the body, we called our 
mother. As the immutable condition of identifi- 

2 



1 8 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

cation, we are bound to require that her present 
communications shall have, in all essential respects, 
the same characteristics of reliability as her earthly- 
ones had. There are many facts of which we are 
both fully and equally informed. There are many 
others about which she has a perfect knowledge, 
and we are wholly ignorant, or misinformed, and 
have the means of ascertaining the truth as it is. 
Suppose, now, that we should find that all her com- 
munications have, in all respects, the same identical 
characteristics of reliability that her living ones had. 
We should, in such case, be bound, as we judge, 
co admit that we are in actual communication with 
the spirit of that mother. Suppose, on the other 
hand, that on all subjects in respect to which we 
and she must be equally informed, we find all 
answers to be true ; and that on all subjects about 
which we are ignorant or misinformed, and she per- 
fectly informed, all communications and responses 
have the immutable characteristics of utter unre- 
liability, making no nearer approach to the truth 
than common imaginings and guessings do. In 
such case we should dementate ourselves and grace- 
lessly slander our mother, if we should admit that 
it is her spirit which is communicating with us. 
Answers to questions about which she and we are 
equally informed have no bearing whatever upon 
the question of her presence or absence, it being 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 19 



as probable, to say the least, that our thoughts 
determined these answers, as that hers did. In re- 
spect to the unreliable communications, we cannot 
admit that they came from her without affirming 
that, since her residence among the spirits, she has 
become a lawless liar, and we are perpetrating an 
act of self-dementation in so doing. As these 
responses have no other characteristics than vain 
imaginings or imprudent guessings, we are bound 
by all the principles of logical integrity to conclude 
that these lying imaginings and guessings are un- 
consciously our own, and not consciously hers, as 
they must be conscious lies, if they proceed from 
her at all. 

No candid thinker will question the validity of 
the test of identification now under consideration, 
and the necessity, if we would not be most sense- 
lessly deceived in a matter of grave importance, of 
subjecting the claims of Spiritualism to the most 
rigid application of this test. In illustration of the 
manner in which this criterion has been applied in 
numberless instances in the United States, we will 
here allude to a fact stated in full in the body of 
this treatise. A gentleman, while sitting in a circle 
in the city of Boston, became impressed with the 
conscious fact, that the answers and communications 
obtained invariably accorded with specific thoughts 
previously, and at the time, present in his own 



20 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

mind. Hence, the question arose, whether his 
own thoughts, and not those of spirits supposed 
to be present, had determined these responses and 
communications. To satisfy his own mind on a 
question of such fundamental importance, he en- 
tered upon a series of experiments, so conducted 
as not at all to disturb the harmony of the circle, 
or awaken a suspicion in any mind of his intent. 
After extensive trials, he found, that by a conscious 
and secret regulation of his own thoughts, he could 
wholly suspend these phenomena, or give any di- 
rection to these communications he pleased. He 
would put a question, for example, and then fix 
his thoughts upon a specific answer which he knew 
to be false, and about which, as he was equally 
aware, the spirit assumed as present was well-in- 
formed ; and that specific error would invariably be 
affirmed as true. The same fixed correspondence 
between the communications received and his own 
voluntarily-determined secret thoughts, obtained in 
all other instances. The conclusion which the in- 
quirer deduced from such facts need not be speci- 
fied. This individual understood at once the reason 
why, in all cases in which the inquirer and the spirit 
supposed to be present were both well-informed of 
the facts inquired about, the answers received were 
correct ; that in cases where the inquirer was in 
error and the spirit well-informed, the error of the 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 2 I 



inquirer, and not the truth as it must have been 
known to the spirit, if present, was reported ; and, 
finally, why, in all cases where the inquirer was 
wholly ignorant, and the spirit, if present, must 
have been well-informed, the answers had the fixed 
characteristics of unreliability which peculiarize 
mere guessing. Suppose, now, that, in the progress 
of this treatise, it shall be rendered fully and un- 
deniably evident, that the above are the fixed 
characteristics of the intellectual communications 
obtained in all the circles throughout the wide 
domain of Spiritualism, then, in the judgment of 
all minds not desirous of being deceived, the high 
claims of the system " vanish into nought." If, on 
the other hand, the advocates of the system can 
show that these communications have, as far as we 
can test them, the known characteristics of reli- 
ability which peculiarize communications between 
individuals in this world, then the claims of the 
system must be admitted. 

It will also be claimed by spiritualists, and that 
with truth, that in these circles, entirely new infor- 
mation is sometimes obtained — information in respect 
to subjects about which the inquirers, and all persons 
present, are totally uninformed. What test, to de- 
termine the fact of spirit-presence or absence, shall 
be applied in such cases ? The answer is obvious 
To prove that such information has come from "the 



22 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

spirits " it must be rendered undeniably evident, 
that this same kind of information is never derived 
from the action of exclusively mundane causes. If, 
on comparing the facts presented, we find them to 
be identical, in all essential characteristics, with 
other facts originated in circumstances where the 
presence and action of " the spirits " are not at all 
to be presumed, then all evidence in favour of the 
claims of Spiritualism — evidence based upon such 
facts — totally disappears. No test is more evidential 
and important than this ; and to its application the 
system will be held to the strictest account, provided 
our object is truth. We should dementate ourselves, 
if we should admit, as proof of spirit-presence and 
agency, facts of the same character as are known 
to result from exclusively mundane causes. 

We here notice the capital error on which the 
claims of Spiritualism have thus far, dark-room 
seances aside, been, for the most part, based. An 
individual enters a circle, and puts a question to a 
spirit assumed to be present — a question pertaining 
to a subject about which, as he well knows, all in the 
circle, himself excepted, must be absolutely ignorant ; 
a subject about which, as he is equally aware, him- 
self and the spirit supposed to be present are 
perfectly informed. It is assumed here, that if the 
right answer is now given, the action of the force 
through which the answer is obtained must have 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 23 

been directed by the mental states of the spirit 
referred to. Here is a fundamental error. How 
do we know but that the action of this force may 
have been determined by the mental states of the 
inquirer, and not by those of any disembodied spirit 
at all ? This is the very question to be determined 
by a careful investigation of the facts before us. 
Take away, as we must do, or violate all the laws 
of scientific deduction, the evidence derived from 
this one source, and all the most essential evidences 
of Spiritualism disappear at once. 

Again: amid the multitudinous false communi- 
cations which are continuously obtained in the spirit- 
circles, once in a while some statement is made 
relatively to some fact about which all present are 
profoundly ignorant — a statement which turns out 
to be true. This fact is at once heralded abroad as 
proof absolute of the claims of Spiritualism, and this 
without any inquiry whether precisely similar infor- 
mation is not often obtained through exclusively 
mundane causes. What an infinite and presumptuous 
leap in logic we have here ! Before any valid inference 
whatever can be based upon such facts, it must be 
rendered undeniably evident that no such facts are 
ever originated through causes acting in the world 
around us. 

A company of individuals seat themselves around a 
table, and place their hands upon its surface. Soon 



24 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

the object begins to move and to perpetrate wonder- 
ful antics ; singular effects are also produced upon 
the bodies of individuals in the circles ; or, from 
unknown causes, articles in a room or house begin 
to be strangely and spontaneously moved towards 
and from one another. We are compelled to admit 
that the era of old superstition has come again, when 
people infer merely from such facts, that " the 
spirits " are acting in our midst. Yet it is upon such 
unindicative facts as these, that the claims of Spirit- 
ualism are almost exclusively based. Leave such 
facts out of the account, as they undeniably should 
be, and the claims of the system vanish into nought. 

The Mundane Theory. 
We have already indicated much which pertains 
to the proper presentation of the character of this 
hypothesis. The advocates of this hypothesis admit 
the leading facts claimed by spiritualists as real, the 
reality of the force through which these phenomena 
are produced, and the agency of mind in the control 
of this force, as far as intellectual communications are 
concerned. What it claims is that the mental states 
by which this force is controlled in the production of 
such phenomena belong to minds in these circles, 
and not to spirits from any higher or lower sphere. 
We must bear in mind here, that the force by which 
these phenomena are produced, is developed by the 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 25 



circles in which these communications are obtained, 
and that that force is here developed by exclusively 
mundane causes. Without absolute proof to the 
contrary, we should conclude, that the causes which 
developed this force within these circles, control it 
while acting there. The burden of proof undeniably 
lies with the spiritualist, and not with the advocate of 
this mundane theory. All that is requisite to anni- 
hilate utterly the claims of Spiritualism, and to vindi- 
cate for that under consideration perfect claims to 
our regard as the true hypothesis, is to show conclu- 
sively that all these phenomena may be the exclusive 
result of mundane causes. If we should be able to 
go further than this, and to show, undeniably, that 
a large portion of these phenomena, and these among 
the most essential, must be regarded as being the 
result of exclusively mundane causes, and that the 
entire residuum of spirit-facts can be readily ac- 
counted for by reference to such causes, then, as 
all will admit, this mundane hypothesis will have 
received a strictly scientific verification. This is 
what we propose to accomplish in our future pre- 
sentations. 

In regard to our leading facts, we would say, 
that, in a work previously published, the mass of 
these facts have been before the American public for 
more than fifteen years, and the reality, and correct- 
ness of the statement, of not one of them has been 

( 

1 



26 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



questioned even by spiritualists themselves. Since 
his views were first made public, the author has been 
watching the progress of facts bearing upon the sub- 
ject, and setting them in order for the establishment 
of the truth. All the facts which have come to his 
notice tend but in one direction — the confirmation 
of the mundane hypothesis as he has developed it. 
Through letters and verbal communications from 
leading minds in many parts of the United States, 
we have been advised and urged to give to the public, 
in a newly-arranged form, what we have formerly 
published, and have since gathered, upon a subject 
which may be truly said to be attracting the atten- 
tion of Christendom. It is in accordance with such 
advice, and our own convictions of what the public 
interests demand, that the present work has been 
prepared, and is now commended to the careful and 
candid examination of the friends of truth. The 
principles laid down in this introduction will, as we 
judge, fully prepare the reader to appreciate the 
bearing of the facts and arguments which may be 
presented. 

THE AFFIRMED VISIBLE, TANGIBLE, AND AUDIBLE 
MANIFESTATIONS OF SPIRITUALISM. 

Before proceeding to a direct consideration of 
the facts before us, it may be deemed important 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 2j 

that we say a few words upon the affirmed visible, 
tangible, and audible manifestations of the spirits — 
manifestations w T hich have attracted so much atten- 
tion during the few years past. In America, 
permit us to say, all these manifestations, the 
latest-invented ones not excepted, are " known and 
read of all men " as detected and exposed impositions. 
These wonders had their origin in an obscure town 
in Southern Ohio, and individuals travelled hundreds 
of miles, and paid very heavy admission fees, to 
enjoy the exalted privilege, as was afterwards de- 
monstrated, of being miserably humbugged. When 
the imposition was exposed in that locality, similar 
and still greater wonders attracted public attention 
in others. Among the most celebrated of these 
impostors were the Davenport family, their per- 
formances being simply more inexplicable than 
those which had been exhibited elsewhere. In 
many of the places in w T hich they appeared, how- 
ever, they were detected in their impositions in 
the very act. For what they did in the city of 
Adrian, or are believed to have done, nobody 
supposes that any but the vilest spirits from the 
lower regions would keep them company. In the 
city of New York, they were proclaimed in all 
the papers as having been openly detected while 
in the act of perpetrating their detestable imposi- 
tions. At this time, we read in a number of the 



28 



Phenomena of Spiritualism 



Banner of Light, the central organ of Spiritualism 
in the United States, a full account of these dis- 
closures. In this article these Davenports were 
affirmed to be a family of vile and detected im- 
postors, and the public were warned against them 
as such, and were protested to against holding Spirit- 
ualism as in any way responsible for the doings of 
these individuals. The manner in which the impo- 
sitions of such individuals were exposed, was various. 
Sometimes, for example, the orifices of the trumpets, 
which the spirits were affirmed to blow in the dark- 
ness, were secretly covered with paint, which was 
found to cover the lips of the villains when the light 
was restored. At one time, when there was a show 
of spirit-hands, at the opening in the front of the 
dark closet, individuals were permitted to touch 
those hands. One strong man suddenly grasped 
one of those hands, and held it fast. The spirit 
struggled desperately to get free. The hand was 
held, however, until the fact was rendered demon- 
strably evident to the audience, that that hand 
belonged to a lying spirit in a human body skulked 
away in that dark closet. Here the most mys- 
terious of their feats were copied. An individual 
well known in the city where we reside when at home, 
said to some friends of ours, from whom we received 
the account, " Go and get a rope ; and having tied 
me just as you did them, leave me alone, as you 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 29 



left them, and see what the result will be." This was 
done. After the man was left alone a little time, the 
door — the only one by which the room could be 
entered — was opened, and there sat the man with the 
rope in his hand. This man affirmed that no spirit 
but his own had anything to do in " loosing his 
hands/' and laughed, as well he might, at the 
spectators for supposing that none but spirits could 
untie ropes under such circumstances. The manner 
in which the Davenports were exposed in the city 
of New Y6rk was on this wise. The individual 
who was to extinguish the lights, left one of the 
burners lighted so slightly that the fact was not 
perceived. When the performance in the deep 
darkness was at its height, the noise of trumpets, 
stringed instruments, etc., being at the loudest, and 
individuals were being touched by spirit-hands, the 
light was suddenly let on ; and there stood the 
whole Davenport family engaged in their fiendish 
impositions. By similar means were they, time and 
again, detected and exposed ; yet, they would go 
into communities where they had not been before, 
and by their satanic impositions persuade multitudes 
of people that these elsewhere detected and exposed 
impostors were attended with audible, visible, and 
tangible manifestations of the presence of disem- 
bodied spirits. After deceiving many in America, 
they passed over to England, and palmed off upon 



30 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



untold multitudes here their impositions, which had 
become stale and intolerably offensive on the other 
side of the Atlantic. Yet we may safely challenge 
spiritualists to produce, through any of their seances, 
higher evidence of spirit-presence than has been 
furnished by these detected and exposed Daven- 
ports. All the showings of all the other mediums 
are of the same identical character, and are no more 
inexplicable than are the doings of these men. 

One of the most popular means of convincing 
the people of the presence of spirits, was experi- 
ments of this kind. The medium would request 
individuals to write out sentences on pieces of paper, 
and then lay them, the blank surface upwards, upon 
the table. The spirits were then requested to read 
the writings on the slips, and afterwards guide the 
hand of the medium to write out what was con- 
tained on each slip. To convince the audience that 
all was done with perfect integrity, one man was 
appointed to sit at the table and watch the medium, 
and another to take up the papers in succession, 
and then, after the medium had read what the spirits 
had guided his or her hand to write, to read what 
was upon the paper in his hands. While such 
seances were being held in the city of Kalamazoo, 
in the state of Michigan, the late Squire Haskal, 
editor of one of the daily papers in the city, noticed 
that before the spirit-writing occurred, something 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 31 



was said, or done, evidently with design, to draw 
away the eyes and attention of people from the 
table and fix them upon some object in a distant 
part of the room, giving the medium time to lift 
the slips and read what was on them. He ac- 
cordingly suggested to some friends, that at the 
next seance he should be appointed to sit at the 
table and watch the medium. This was agreed 
upon. As preparatory for what was to follow, Squire 
Haskal prepared two papers exactly like one another, 
and wrote upon each a sentence unlike what was 
written upon the other. When seated at the table, 
he laid one of these papers before the medium, and 
requested the spirits to reveal what was written 
thereon. After the usual act of diverting attention on 
her part, he took occasion to make some remarks, in 
the progress of which he, for a moment, diverted the 
attention of the medium and all others, as she had 
before done. During this moment, the papers were ex- 
changed. When attention was restored to the business 
in hand, Squire Haskal requested that the present 
should be considered by the spirits, the medium, and 
the audience, as a test experiment, and hence, he 
would earnestly request the spirits to read with the 
greatest care that paper again. All this was agreed 
to by the audience, the medium, and, as affirmed 
through her, by the spirits. The medium, as moved 
by the spirits, wrote out what they had read upon 



32 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



Squire Haskal's paper, and she, with great assur- 
ance, read what they had guided her to write. The 
man appointed to do so then took up the paper, and 
read that. To the amazement of the medium, and 
the surprise of the audience, the two were found not 
to agree at all. Squire Haskal then requested the 
man to read the other paper, and this was found to 
have been exactly copied by " the spirits." The 
medium was terribly enraged, and demanded that 
Squire Haskal should leave the platform at once. 
This he avowed himself well pleased to do, as he had 
exposed to the audience the cheat which was being 
played upon them. We state the facts as related to 
us by Mr. Haskal himself. It was by such dis- 
closures as these that these seance wonders, the 
occasional newly-invented ones excepted, lost their 
interest and influence in America. We would here 
remark also, that the art of thus reading communi- 
cations, and that without the aid of spirits, has now 
been carried much further than was ever done by 
spiritualists. 

Another important fact demands special attention 
here. Not only have these wonder-workers been 
exposed as deliberate impostors, but their impo- 
sitions, in all essential particulars, have been copied. 
Everything which they can do by the affirmed aid of 
spirits, has been, and is being, performed, not only in 
America, but in London and Paris; and far moremys- 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed, 33 



terious things than these so-affirmed spirit-mediums 
can do is being done also. We have referred to the 
manner in which these wonders have been copied in 
America. Let any individual visit the nightly exhi- 
bitions of Maskelyne and Cook at the Egyptian Hall, 
London, and he will witness the performance, and 
that avowedly without the aid of spirits, of all that is 
claimed to have been done by their aid in the spirit- 
seances. We will refer to a few facts which we and 
other friends witnessed there. On a carpeted plat- 
form, everywhere in full view of the audience, stands a 
cabinet eight or ten feet high. This box stands upon 
rollers, and is freely moved in all directions. In 
front is a door with double openings, and at the right 
side, a little higher than the doors, is an opening into 
the cabinet — an opening in the form of a diamond, 
When the door or doors are opened, the audience 
have a full view of the entire inside of the box. A 
committee from the audience carefully examine this 
box within and without, rolling it in all directions 
to find whether it has any secret exterior connexions. 
Having fully satisfied themselves, they report that 
the cabinet is a strictly honest affair. In other parts 
of the room, and wholly disconnected with this box, 
are a table, chairs, etc. 

The main exercises of the evening commenced 
with a striking exhibition of table-moving. A gen- 
tleman and lady seated themselves at the ends of 

3 



34 Phenomena of Spiritualism, 

a table, and placed their fingers upon the top of the 
same. The object immediately becomes violently 
agitated, moving in various directions, and finally 
turning bottom-side upwards, at quite a distance 
from the floor. This feat over, the lady leaves the 
table, and advances near the centre of the plat- 
form, where no visible object touches her but the 
carpet on which she stands. While standing there, 
she begins to ascend, as if borne upward by invisible 
powers. When she has reached a height of from 
two to four feet from the floor, and while she is 
standing thus "in mid air," an individual strikes 
with a cane under her feet, to prove that she is 
sustained there by nothing between her and the 
floor. After remaining in this position for some 
time, she is quietly let down to the floor, and takes 
her leave of the audience. 

The time has now come for the cabinet exhibi- 
tions. Two men enter the box, and seat themselves 
opposite each other. The committee now enter, and 
with cords fasten the hands and feet of the men to 
bolts, which have been previously examined with 
all care. Everything is made as fast and secure as 
the committee know how to do it. When the 
committee leave the cabinet, the men become visi- 
ble to the audience, and all see them fastened with 
cords as securely as human ingenuity knows how 
to do it, seals being placed upon the knots of the 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 35 

cords. Musical and other instruments are laid in 
the centre of the box, and placed out of contact 
with the men. The doors are now closed upon 
these men, and they are "left alone in their glory." 
Hardly have the doors been closed, however, when 
" spirit-hands " appear at the opening referred to, 
and an arm is put out quite to the elbow. Then 
the instruments are played upon and sounded, and 
a great "spirit-racket" is made inside that box, 
" After the uproar has ceased/' the doors are opened, 
and the men appear, as securely fastened as before. 
The committee go in and find that not a bolt or 
cord has been apparently moved. A metallic ring, 
large enough to be passed over the hand on to the 
arm, is presented to the committee. The object, after 
being examined and found to be solid throughout, 
and marked so that it may be known when seen a 
second time, is placed in the box, with the request 
that one of the men would place it upon his left 
arm. After the usual time the doors were opened, 
and the ring was found upon the right arm of one 
of the men. He was reminded of his mistake, and 
was requested to change the ring from the right 
to the left arm. This was accordingly done. Then, 
the doors being closed again, the ring was imme- 
diately thrown out upon the platform. The doors 
being opened, and all found secure as before, one 
of the men was requested, as the next performance, 



36 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

to take off his coat. The doors being closed and 
then opened as before, the mans coat was found 
upon the bottom of the box, and he in his shirt- 
sleeves. A request was then made that someone 
in the audience would lend his coat, that "the 
medium" might put it on. This request was com- 
plied with, and after a little time the garment was 
found upon the back of the man in the box. The 
entire room was then darkened for a few moments, 
and when the light was thrown on again, the coat 
was found to have been taken from the back of the 
" medium," and laid in its owner's lap. The door 
of the box was then closed, with the request that 
the men inside should release themselves from their 
bonds. In about one minute the doors were opened 
and the men were seen standing there, with the 
cords lying at their feet. Between each experiment 
the men in the box were not only exposed to the 
fuM view of the audience, but the committee made 
a careful examination of the bolts, cords, knots, and 
seals, to see that all were in the same state as at 
the first. 

After a little period, all the lights were extin- 
guished, and we found ourselves in "the palpable 
obscure." Soon, objects, made partly visible by phos- 
phorescent light attached to them, passed all about 
over our heads ; a hand and arm appeared holding 
a tambourine ; and notes of wind and stringed instru- 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 37 

ments were heard in the atmosphere of the room 
all above us. When the din ceased, and the lights 
were restored, nothing was visible to account for the 
phenomena which we had witnessed. 

"The seance" closed with what seemed more 
mysterious than anything we had witnessed before. 
A trunk was placed upon the platform, and when 
opened a man came forward and laid himself down 
in the trunk. We all saw him lying there. A bit 
of a straw was given him, to be put out through a 
hole after the trunk should be closed. The lid was 
then put down and locked, and the trunk was bound 
with cords as securely as could be desired, and upon 
the knots of the cords seals were placed. When all 
was done, the bit of straw was put out of the hole 
designated, to render it demonstrably evident that 
the man was in the trunk. The trunk was then put 
into the box ; and after it had remained closed less 
than two minutes, the doors were opened, and there 
stood the man, while nothing about the trunk was, 
to all appearance, changed at all. All the above, 
which are exact copies of the highest wonders of 
Spiritualism, were affirmed before the audience to 
have been performed by legerdemain, and without 
any help whatever from "the spirits."; 

Still more seemingly inexplicable, and explanatory 
of "the spirit- wonders," are the feats of legerdemain 
as nightly performed in the Hondin Theatre in Paris. 



38 



Phenomena of Spiritualism 



The French Government, finding that its authority 
over the people of Algiers was endangered by the 
Mahometan priests, and that the power of the latter 
over the former was sustained mainly by affirmed 
spirit-manifestations of the identical character which 
are occurring among spiritualists in Europe and 
America, sent over to Algiers a Mr, Robert Hondin, 
one of the most distinguished legerdemain wonder- 
workers in France. The mission of Mr. Hondin was 
to repeat before the people all the affirmed spirit- 
miracles of the priests, to add to these many others 
which they could not copy, and then reveal openly 
the manner in which all such deceptions were perpe- 
trated. This was done, and the power of the priests 
over the people was broken. The wonders which 
Mr. Hondin performed in Algiers are now being 
repeated in the Hondin Theatre in Paris, and there 
modern spirit-wonders are not only being re-enacted, 
but far out- done. We will present two of these 
performances, as related to us from original observa- 
tion by Professor Gregory, President of the Illinois 
Industrial University, in the United States, and Dr. 
Shurfey, formerly a surgeon in the United States 
army. The first performance to which we refer was 
on this wise. A young lad came out before the 
audience, and while standing in open view, and in the 
clearest light in their immediate presence, an indi- 
vidual approached and placed over the lad an object 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 39 

in the shape of a barrel. The man stepped back, 
and drawing a pistol from his pocket, fired it at the 
object before him. No sooner had the report of the 
pistol died away, than the voice of the lad was heard 
from the gallery announcing himself unhurt. The 
barrel was then taken up and found to be empty. 

A large trunk was then brought upon the stage, 
shown to the audience to be empty, affirmed by the 
committee selected by the audience to be in that 
state, was locked, and the key retained by them. The 
trunk was then most thoroughly bound round in every 
direction by cords, which were firmly tied together 
and seals placed upon the knots. After this, a thick 
canvas covering was placed over and buckled firmly 
around the trunk. The whole was then bound round 
with cords fastened together, and sealed as in the 
first case. On being called, an individual looking like 
a Moor comes forward, with something like a bag 
upon his arm, and is asked if he can put himself into 
that bag, tie it over his head, as a bag of meal is tied 
up, and then put himself into that trunk without 
disturbing any of its fastenings. On his expressing 
his belief that he can perform the feat, circular 
curtains are let down around the trunk. When all 
has been fully examined by the committee and pro- 
nounced in due order, the stranger passes in where the 
trunk is, the committee standing all around to guard 
against deception. After standing there for a while, 



40 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



the curtains are raised, and nothing appears but the 
trunk, with no appearance whatever of having been 
disturbed. The committee now uncover, and open 
the trunk, and find lying in it something looking like 
a bag of meal tied up firmly at the top. The object, 
in full view of the audience, is taken out, placed on 
end, and untied at the top. The covering drops 
down, and there stands the Moor, as he passed into 
that curtained environment. While all the wonder- 
doings of the spiritualists are fully copied, such addi- 
tional wonders are performed without the aid of "the 
spirits,'' and to expose the impositions of Mahometan 
priests, and spirit-mediums in Christendom. 

The people of England may be interested to learn 
somewhat of the doings in America of Katie King, 
who occupied for some time the thoughts of the 
citizens of London. According to reports in the 
papers here, the portion of her hair which she 
allowed to be clipped, appears as veritable human 
hair, and her garments, the portion which she also 
allowed to be cut off, to be of English manufactory. 
In the reports we have read of her manifestations, it 
would seem very difficult, if not impossible, to account 
for her appearances and disappearances, or for her 
entrances and departures from the house where she 
appears, on the supposition that she is a spirit in a 
veritable human body. Hence the inference that she 
must be a visitant from the spirit-spheres. The idea 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed, 41 

that she is such a spirit might account, perhaps, for 
her bodily appearances and disappearances, entrances 
and exits, but not at all for similar facts relatively 
to her English manufactured clothing. If this home- 
made outer garment could be made to enter and pass 
out of that house, and to appear and disappear in it, 
the same, as it would appear to a philosopher, might 
be true of a human body inside of that garment. 
We leave these suggestions to the reflections of the 
reader. 

According to American accounts, the cloth cut 
from Katie's garments is unlike any produced in 
any manufactory known to the people of London. 
Granting this, the case is not altered at all. The 
cloth is of a kind which can be cut and sewed like 
any other, and has the same characteristics of solidity, 
durability, and earthliness as any other cloth. Now, 
put a human body into garments made of such cloth, 
and it is, undeniably, no more difficult to account for 
the entrance into and exit from, or for the appear- 
ance and disappearance in, any room, of that body, 
than it is to account for similar facts relatively to the 
garments which that body wears. If we should judge 
otherwise, we should be compelled to admit that our 
logic and common sense both were in an abnormal 
state. Katie, then, as far as the facts under con- 
sideration are concerned, is no validly-evinced spirit- 
presence from any higher sphere than this. 



42 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



Katie, however, after entertaining the people of 
London for a time, informed them that, having been 
called to a higher sphere, she must leave them for 
ever, or, at least, for the present. In regard to her new 
and more exalted sphere, we are now able to report 
its location. She left the small village of London and 
was transferred to the second story of a brick house 
in Ninth Street, in the great city of Philadelphia, in 
the United States of America ; the first floor being 
occupied as a music store. Here she appears in the 
service of two mediums, Mr. and Mrs. Holmes, 
formerly well know in London. Her manifestations 
in this city, as reported in the American papers 
(our statements being taken from Leslies Illustrated 
Weekly, as given from original observations) — her 
manifestations here, we say, are mainly a repetition 
of those in London, with this difference, that she here 
allowed herself to be sketched at full length. We 
would say, that if hers is a fair example of counte- 
nances among the celestials, we have but poor hopes 
of physical improvement there ; and from Katie's 
verbal communications we are compelled to infer that 
she has been but a dull scholar during two centuries 
of schooling in the upper spheres. Katie did not 
make a long stay among the people of Philadelphia ; 
being ambitious, no doubt, of occupying a still higher 
sphere, and she makes her next appearance, under the 
guardianship of Mr. and Mrs. Holmes, in the great 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 43 

city of Blissfield — a city located ten miles east of our 
residence when at home — a city of somewhat less than 
two thousand inhabitants, and located in the state of 
Michigan. Here, on the first floor of a common 
frame house, the people from all parts around were, 
when our last daily papers of the Adrian Times 
arrived, being entertained with the same spirit- 
manifestations w r ith which Katie had previously 
" astonished the natives " of Philadelphia and London. 
Our Times reporter gives a very clear account of 
the mysterious facts which he witnessed in one of 
these seances. The facts detailed are identical with 
the mysteries witnessed in Philadelphia and London. 
The reporter, however, found the people of Blissfield, 
from certain facts which they had noticed, almost, or 
quite, unanimous in the belief that the whole affair 
is deceptive, and the seance reported was suddenly 
brought to a close by some noises heard outside the 
house. The people, as the reporter affirms, manifest 
no disposition whatever for acts of disorder or 
violence. Their avowed plan is this— to watch the 
house on all sides and know whether any clandestine 
entrances occur ; and if Katie shall appear in the seance 
room, to have several persons there who shall seize 
her, and hold her fast until she shall vanish from 
sight and touch, or be compelled to reveal herself as 
a human being. Had the London examiners mani- 
fested similar wisdom, Katie would now be " known 



44 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

and read of all men " as a veritable " spirit-presence " 
on the earth, or as " a deceiving spirit " in a human 
body. While watching the house outside, an individual 
in man's clothes was dimly seen slyly approaching 
the back part of the house, in the vicinity of a bed- 
room contiguous to that in which the seances are 
held. This individual was caught, and, after breaking 
a gutta percha cane into three parts about the head 
and shoulders of the man by whom he was caught and 
held, confessed himself a woman. After being refused 
the most earnest request to be permitted to approach 
and rap three times on the outside of the house where 
the seance was to be held, the man-woman was, at 
her piteous entreaties not to be compelled to be seen 
by the multitude, told to "go and sin no more." 
While a Katie was thus caught outside the house, 
no Katie King appeared in the seance room that 
evening, and Mr. Holmes the next day sent a man 
to Adrian to purchase a cane like that which had 
been broken. The people of Blissfield will have it 
that the real Katie King has been caught and verified 
as a woman in man's clothes in their midst. What 
is singular about the matter is, that, on an attempt 
to hold another seance, the people being on the alert, 
Mrs. Holmes, after the visitors had paid their money 
and were seated in readiness for the "spirit-mani- 
festations," had a fit, from which she could not be 
recovered, and the audience left with less money 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 45 

and, perhaps, with more wisdom than they had 
before they were treated to "just nothing at all." 
The reason assigned by Mr. and Mrs. Holmes for 
these failures, as reported from them in the Adrian 
Times, is the following : — 

" They gatfe the seaiice in good faith, and the fact 
that they had no manifestations from materialized 
spirits was on account of the plan laid by the parties 
in attendance, that, should Katie appear, they would 
seize her. This would cause the spirit, as well as the 
mediums, much pain. The spirits were, of course, 
aware of this, and refused to appear. Further than 
this they had no explanations to make." 

To us, it appears that the public will not accept 
these as sufficient reasons for such non-appearance. 
Had Katie been caught, or suffered herself to be 
caught, and then vanished, as she might have done, 
had she been the spirit she pretended to be, the fact 
of such disappearance would have convinced the 
world of her real spirit-character. Her refusal to 
meet such a test lost her a golden opportunity to 
verify her pretensions, and throws more than suspicion 
over them all. 

The messenger of the Times now went down to 
Blissfield, and agreed with Mr. and Mrs. Holmes for 
a test seance, the individuals to be selected by the 
messenger, and to be constituted equally of believers 
and unbelievers in Spiritualism. When the conditions 

I 



46 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

were submitted to Katie, this answer, as reported by 
the mediums, was received from her. We give her 
response with facts and remarks as stated in the 

Times 

" She will not consent to appear while the bed-room 
in the rear of the cabinet is occupied. Parties will, 
doubtless, put their own construction on this change 
of programme. To many it will be evidence of the 
truth of the Blissfield theory, that with the bed-room 
occupied and the doors leading to the main room 
guarded, ( Katie 1 is unable to appear. It is certain 
that when, on the occasion of a recent seance, Mr. 
Blaisdell, of Blissfield, occupied the bed-room, ' Katie ' 
stated that she ' gained strength' from him. But 
then her appearance was preceded by a dark seance, 
and the doors leading to the main room were not 
carefully guarded. " 

Lest anyone should affirm, that we have in 
America a jtorz^-Katie, we will give the account of 
her manifestations as given in Frank Leslie's Illns- 
trated Newspaper, and the Adrian Tunes. After 
describing the preliminaries, Mr. Leslie's account thus 
proceeds : — 

u The light being now lowered a little, but not so 
as to render surrounding objects invisible in any 
degree, we were one and all requested to join in 
singing, for the purpose, it was said, of " harmonizing 
the influences." Preferring to keep our eye upon the 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 47 



small openings, and the cabinet door, that, after our 
inspection, had been closed and latched, we declined 
to give any specimen of our vocal powers, although 
those about us began to sing, and most tunefully, 
some melody that was unknown to us. In the course 
of a few moments, we thought that we perceived the 
curtain that hung before the lower pentagonal aper- 
ture move ; and scarcely had the idea taken possession 
of us when the white and shapely arm of a woman 
was thrust through the opening, and the latch that 
fastened the door lifted, by apparently soft, taper 
fingers, out of the staple. The arm was now with- 
drawn, and almost instantly afterwards a sweet, 
young face appeared at the same aperture, with a 
soft, low ' good-evening/ which we must confess 
rather astonished us. The salutation being eagerly 
returned by all present, one of the mediums, neither 
of whom moved from our side during the seance, 
asked the mysterious visitant whether she thought 
she should be able to leave the cabinet during the 
seance, when she replied, ' I will try.' This phase 
of the phenomena was what we most desired to 
witness. Nor were we kept long in suspense ; for, 
in a very few minutes, the cabinet door opened 
slowly, and out stepped, in full view of us all, and 
just as she is represented in our illustration, the so- 
called spirit of the now famous Katie King ! Al- 
though set down as a denizen of the other world. 



48 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



she seemed to us to be as objective a reality as ever 
trod this earth. She walked among us, permitted 
us to touch her hands, and her white robe ; and 
spoke to us in good round modern English, which 
we considered somewhat extraordinary, seeing that 
she lived upwards of two hundred years ago, when 
the quaintness of Spencer overshadowed her native 
tongue. This and some kindred circumstances, 
which had previously come to our knowledge, we 
did not pause to analyze at the moment, for we felt 
'that she was a very mysterious being, at least, and 
we were engaged in scrutinizing her person with all 
the coolness and vigour at our command. She was 
exceedingly handsome, and appeared to us to be 
about nineteen years of age, and of medium height. 
She wore a white robe of some singular fabric, and 
a light drab veil wound gracefully about her head. 
The folds of her dress concealed her feet, but her 
arms were bare, and, like her figure, exquisitely 
moulded. Her complexion was absolutely trans- 
parent, and her hair, instead of being dark as gene- 
rally represented, was, in our opinion, auburn, with 
a golden tinge. She wore no ornaments, and after 
remaining with us four or five minutes, and making 
a few very commonplace observations, she re-entered 
the cabinet without closing the door. Here she 
stood facing us for a few seconds, when Mrs. Holmes 
asked her whether she could disappear before the 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 49 

visitors as she had done on previous occasions. To 
this interrogatory she made the same reply as she 
had to the other ; and, surprising to relate, gradually 
faded away into thin air before us, until not a vestige 
of her was to be seen. Nor was this all, for a few 
moments subsequently, and outside the cabinet, 
within three or four feet of us, she began slowly to 
form again, until she stood before us in all her 
perfection once more. After this, she bade us a 
kind 'good-night,' and, re-entering the cabinet, she 
disappeared before the door was closed ; and the 
seance was at an end." 

After detailing the early manifestations, in which 
there was a showing of hands and faces, the Adrian 
account proceeds thus : — 

" After this many others in the room, including the 
writer, were permitted to step to the cabinet, and 
receive touches from the hand of the mysterious 
personage. The reporter asked and received per- 
mission to shake hands with her, and received a 
very light pressure of the hand. Whether that 
hand was human or spiritual he does not pretend 
to say. Mrs. Holmes then asked the mysterious 
visitor whether she thought she would be able to 
leave the cabinet during the seance, and she replied, 
" I will try." During all this time there was singing 
by those present, or music by a violin and guitar. 
There was a short time of suspense, the only sound 

4 



50 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

being the low, subdued sound of the violin ; then . 
the cabinet door opened slowly, and there stood, in 
full view of all in the room, the so-called spirit of 
the famous ' Katie King/ She was clad in the 
traditional white flowing robes of the 'Summer 
Land/ and appeared about nineteen years of age. 
Although said to belong to another world, she ap- 
peared as real as any being in the room, but with 
more of an ethereal look. Her white robe hung 
gracefully about her, while her head seemed en- 
folded in some kind of a veil. Upon her neck hung 
a beautiful cross, which glistened in the light. After 
a moment, she stepped back into the cabinet and 
closed the door. Soon afterward she appeared again 
in the open door. After standing an instant she 
stepped forward into the room some four or five 
feet, almost within touching distance of the writer. 
Here he had an excellent chance of observing her 
appearance. Her arms were bare, her feet were 
concealed by the folds of her dress, and her figure 
was finely moulded. Her complexion was almost 
transparent. After a little time she again returned 
to the cabinet. Mrs. Holmes then asked her if 
she should place a chair for her, and received an 
affirmative answer. A chair was placed near the 
cabinet and the door soon opened, and 4 Katie 1 
appeared again, walking out in the room as before, 
and then turning and sitting in the chair, where she 



/ 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 51 

remained a few moments, and again retired to the 
cabinet." 

It will be readily granted, that the American, if 
not the same, equals the English Katie. In view 
of the facts before us, we claim, that all valid 
evidence of her being a spirit-visitant from "the 
undiscovered counT^y 1 ' is utterly wanting. It is un- 
deniable that no more mysterious facts are recorded 
of her than are known to result from exclusively 
mundane causes. This takes away absolutely all 
valid evidence of the genuineness of her spirit-pre- 
tensions. The hair cut from her head, and the 
garments she wears, are, as none will deny, of an 
exclusively mundane character. Such objects cannot 
be made, without miraculous interposition, to appear 
and disappear, as those belonging to Katie do, but 
by tricks of legerdemain. If by such means such 
objects may be made thus to appear and disappear, 
the same, undeniably, may be true of a human body 
to which such hair belongs, and is inside of such 
garments. The facts developed at Blissfield clearly 
evince her as a " false spirit n in the flesh. Why did 
not Katie King appear in the seance in the house 
on the evening when the man-Katie was caught 
outside of the house ? Why did Mr. Holmes send 
a special messenger ten miles to Adrian, to replace 
the cane which the man-Katie had broken over the 
back of her captor? Why does Katie now, after 



52 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



having found that she "gained strength" through 
the presence of an individual in that bed-room — 
other avenues of access to her cabinet being then 
left unguarded — and after all the arrangements for 
a test seance have been agreed upon (one specific 
item of the agreement being that a man shall be in 
that bed-room while the seance is being held) — why 
does Katie now refuse to appear at all, unless that 
contiguous and convenient room shall be left for 
her exclusive occupancy ? If she is a spirit, as she 
affirms herself to be, why does she not suffer her- 
self to be caught and held fast, and then vanish 
from the sight, and touch, and grasp of those who 
hold her ? 

Permit us, before closing our observations on these 
seances, to refer to two or three facts which have come 
to our knowledge during our short stay in London. 
A personal friend of ours, a gentleman of high in- 
telligence and integrity, a graduate of Cambridge 
University, was invited to attend a seance in a family 
whose reputation was such as to induce — if any such 
pretensions could— absolute confidence in the integrity 
of the whole exhibition. He, with several other friends, 
having paid the large admission fees required, took 
their places among other spectators. After the pre- 
liminaries were gone through with, a lady-medium 
having been put into a mesmeric sleep, and seated 
within the box, various spirit-faces appeared at the 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 53 

window, and communicated with the audience, — in- 
dividuals being permitted to touch the hands and 
clothing of the spirits. At length a face partly 
covered appeared, and, with the sweetest smiles, 
bowed to our friend. As he looked at that counte- 
nance, he became fully convinced that there was 
before him the veritable face of a sister who had 
died a few years previous. Of course, he was deeply 
moved ; and affirmed to his parents, on returning 
home, that he had that evening seen the spirit-face 
of their departed daughter. 

At a seance subsequently attended by our friend, 
a man was the medium placed within the box. In 
this case a male ghost appeared, and a very vulgar 
one too, his manner and language being very gruft 
and uncouth. The ghost, however, freely conversed 
with the audience, and gave to all who approached 
him a cordial shake of the hand. On taking his 
hand, our friend perceived that it had the warmth 
of a human hand, those who had taken it before 
having affirmed it to have been ghostly cold. Our 
friend remarked to the ghost that his hand was then 
warm, and not cold, as it had been when touched 
by others, and asked him if he could not render his 
hand cold as it before had been. This the ghost 
promised to do. While the cooling process, which 
was quite long-continued, was going on, our friend 
put some paint, having prepared this beforehand, 




54 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



on the inside of his middle finger. The hand, on 
being taken a second time, was found to be still 
warm, bub damp, — it evidently having been held in 
cold water. That hand was consequently in the 
proper state to receive and retain the paint put upon 
it. Immediately after this the seance was broken up. 
As the medium came out of the cabinet, however, 
the paint was visible on the back of his hand. A 
spiritualist gave this explanation of this fact : 
" Whatever you do to the spirit/' he remarked, 
"you do to the medium/' — a statement which held 
literally true in the case before us. Such an ex- 
planation may satisfy a spiritualist ; but what will 
be its impression upon all truly sane minds ? Our 
friend, however, has, since this last disclosure, had 
no desire to visit the seances in search of ghosts. We 
have full permission to employ our friend's name, 
when we have occasion to do it. 

The papers gave an account, some weeks since, 
of light being suddenly thrown on one of the 
circles of a dark seance, in this country, and there 
stood revealed before the audience the medium 
manipulating the faces of the simpletons in the 
circle with spirit-hands. The indignation of the 
audience turned, not upon their deceiver, but upon 
the individual who revealed to them the fact that 
they were being humbugged. By special invitation 
of a friend, we attended one of the so-called most 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 55 

wonderful of these seances. The thought that any 
rational being could infer the evidence of spirit- 
presence and agency from what was exhibited there, 
has led us to repeat an exclamation which we recal 
from our child's spelling-book, namely, " Oh, the folly 
of sinners ! " What was pronounced by the manager 
as the leading wonder of the whole exhibition was 
the following : The medium, a young woman, being 
placed in the cabinet, and bound with cords, as is 
usual in such cases, a large bucket was placed in her 
lap, with this announcement, that after the doors 
had been closed for a little time, and then re-opened, 
that bucket would be found to have been taken 
from her lap, and placed over her head. On re- 
opening the cabinet, the bucket was, in fact, found as 
promised. What power on earth could perpetrate 
such a feat as that but " the spirits "? If we continue 
to reason thus, shall we not be compelled to conclude 
that our ancestors must have been monkeys ? 

Since writing the above, and after my manuscript 
was fully completed, news has come from America, 
intelligence of facts, which have closed up the occupa- 
tion of ghost-exhibitions in that country. The debut 
of Katie King was, for a time, a great success in 
Philadelphia, — so great, that she was becoming an 
object of worship with spiritualists. The following 
is a stanza from one of the hymns which were being 
sung in her praise : — 



56 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



" Oh, gather round, and let us sing 
The praises of sweet Katie King, 
Who, from her bright and happy sphere, 
Comes smiling to us mortals here. 

Chorus : 

Then with sweet voices let all sing 
The praises of sweet Katie King." 

In their adoration of the heavenly visitant, ladies 
took off their jewelry and choicest ornaments, and 
gave them to the ghost, who promised to take such 
gifts with her, as keepsakes, to the celestial spheres. 
Her standing indorsers were the celebrated Robert 
Dale Owen, and Henry T. Child, M.D., of Phila- 
delphia. In a late number of the Atlantic Monthly 
Mr. Owen gives to the world a history of the facts 
which he had personally witnessed in respect to 
Katie, in the seances of. Mr. and Mrs. Holmes. The 
facts, as he affirms, lead us to one or the other of 
these conclusions, namely, Katie King is a veritable 
spirit from " the undiscovered country," or " human 
bodies, without leaving a trace behind them, can 
freely pass through brick walls of the thickness of 
two or three feet." The fact, admitted by Mr. Owen, 
that when Katie disappeared, the solid jewelry, 
which she took with her, disappeared also, did not in 
the least stagger his faith in the validity of his logic. 
A gentleman of the city, however, in shaking hands 
with the ghost, perceived that "the sweet Katie 
King " had a very foul breath, — a fact of a seeming 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 57 



mundane character. This gentleman then determined 
to search out the whole matter. Keeping his eyes 
open as he was walking the streets cf the city, he 
soon discovered a woman who was putting up in 
a certain house — a woman who was in all respects 
" the image and likeness " of the ghost Katie. This 
woman, as he found, always visited the Holmses prior 
to the holding of the seances, accompanied them to 
the room where the exhibitions were held, and, with- 
out leaving the place, was never visible in the audience. 
Having furnished the ghost with jewelry which he 
would recognise as soon as he should find the articles 
again, he now sought with much care a personal 
acquaintance w r ith the woman referred to, and suc- 
ceeded to his full satisfaction. In the course of their 
interviews the woman exhibited, for the entertainment 
of her new acquaintance, the mass of jewelry of which 
she was possessed. Among the articles exhibited, the 
gentleman selected those which he had himself fur- 
nished, and then confronted the woman with the 
charge, that she was the veritable Katie King. At 
first the charge was stoutly denied. When the proof 
was presented, however, she made a full confession, 
restored the jewelry to those from whom she had 
received it, and has since, under oath, given in the 
public papers a full account of the manner in which 
her deceptions had been perpetrated. 

The individual who drew from Katie the confession 



58 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



of her impositions was, at first, at a loss to deter- 
mine how to make his discovery known, and to do 
it in a manner which would secure public confidence. 
He finally determined to lay the facts before Dr. 
Childs and Mr. Owen, and let them be the first to 
undeceive the people. This they promptly did, each, 
in a card published in The Banner of Light, the organ, 
as stated before, of Spiritualism in the United States, 
recanting his indorsements of the seances of Mr. and 
Mrs. Holmes. Mr. Owen, in the meantime, sent to 
the conductors of the Atlantic Monthly an agonising 
request that his article which he had furnished them, 
demonstrating the ghostship of "the sweet Katie 
King," with a foul breath, should not appear in their 
columns. The request came too late, however, and our 
friend was compelled to appear before the world in a 
very unpleasant predicament indeed — a predicament 
of which the New York Tribune thus very properly 
speaks : — " A man who is too strong-minded to believe 
in Christianity, and yet who finds no difficulty in 
believing that spirits come out of a closet, and 
dance breakdowns on a platform, and spin mosquito- 
netting out of the air, is scarcely a promising subject 
for argument. To say he disbelieves the Bible be- 
cause he cannot understand it, and believes in Katie 
King because he has seen her, simply shows that he 
is as vain of the feebleness of his understanding as 
he is of the blindness of his eyes." 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 59 

As the deceptions perpetrated by the young and 
-beautiful widow with one child, Mrs. Frances, or 
Eliza, White, "the material spirit of Katie King," 
were of a legally criminal character, she was informed 
that it was right and proper for her to make a full 
exposure of the whole concern with which she had 
been connected. This she at length did as above 
stated, detailing, at full length, the manner in which 
she would seemingly vanish and reappear before 
audiences, her manner and places of concealment, 
when her hiding-places, the bed-room and others, 
were searched both before and after the seances, 
and all . the other deceptions of herself and Mr. and 
Mrs. Holmes. The following account which Mrs. 
White gives of the manner in which their seances 
were brought to a close in Blissfield will interest 
the reader : — 

"An evening was set for a party who were to 
come from Adrian. The inner circle was formed 
by Mr. and Mrs. Holmes, the family who lived in 
.the house, and a Mr. B., a merchant of Blissfield, 
and two or three more friends of the family. The 
Adrian people were kept in the rear, and scattered 
about the room. I was playing the part of Katie, 
as usual, in the cabinet, and was in the act where 
Katie was disappearing and reappearing. I had faded 
away, and was just rising up to full stature, the 
cabinet door standing open, when Mr. Brown sprang 



6o Phenomena of Spiritualis7n 



forward and caught me in his arms. I had presence 
of mind enough not to scream. Mr. Holmes imme- 
diately grabbed Mr. B. by the heels, which threw 
him down. In the struggle I escaped. Mrs. Holmes 
immediately darted into Mr. B.'s arms, calling for 
someone to turn on the lights. When the lights 
were turned on, Mr. B. was lying in a horizontal 
position, with his heels outside the cabinet and his 
head inside, and Mrs. Holmes in his arms. I had 
escaped from the cabinet into the back room, taking 
with me the black cloth I held over me when I 
disappeared, and the stool I had been standing on. 
Mrs. Holmes declared that Mr. B. had grabbed at 
the spirit and caught her. Of course the excitement 
for a few minutes was very great. Mr. Holmes then 
shut the cabinet door. I returned into the cabinet 
and commenced imitating 1 Dick/ telling the audience 
how foolish it was for anyone to attempt to catch 
a spirit ; that Katie was very indignant at the gen- 
tleman grabbing her medium." 

Mr. B. affirmed, however, that, contrary to his will, 
the ghost forced herself, at the time of his fall, from 
his arms, and that afterwards Mrs. Holmes, who was 
sitting in her chair, as all knew, at the time when 
the ghost was caught, forced herself into his arms. 
So the public believed, and, as Mrs. W. states, no 
more seances were held at the west, and all parties 
returned to Philadelphia, where the disclosures above 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed, 61 



presented were made. On these disclosures I make 
the following remarks: I. The identity of this Mrs. 
White with the supposed ghost, Katie King, is an 
absolutely verified fact, which no candid person will 
ute. 2. If we compare the accounts given by 
Mr, Owen and other credible witnesses, of the facts 
presented by the Katie King of Philadelphia, with 
o recorded by credible witnesses of the doings 
of the Katie King of London, the former will be 
found to be quite as mysterious, and of as difficult 
explanation, as the latter ; and the fact, that the 
former stand revealed to the world as demonstrated 
impositions, takes away wholly all evidence that the 
latter are not of the same character. 3. As the 
Katie King manifestations are more mysterious and 
of more difficult explanation than any and all others 
ever presented in any seances in Christendom, all 
evidence that ghosts have appeared in any of these 
stances is utterly annihilated. Hence it is that, as 
we have said, the occupation of ghost-exhibitors is 

ie, as far as the United States are concerned. 
It remains to be determined, however, which portion 
of the Anglo-Saxon race, that on the east or west 
side of the Atlantic, has the strongest propensity for 
beinsr humbugged. 

The test applied at Blissfield may appear to some 
rather rude. We will propose one against which no 
such objection, or any objection of any kind, can 



62 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

be made. Let the city authorities of London, or 
the Faculties of Oxford or Cambridge, designate four 
or six ladies, and as many gentlemen, of known 
reputation for integrity and intelligence. Let these 
individuals attend the ghost seances, and if a female 
ghost appears, let the ladies, and if a male ghost 
shows itself, let the gentlemen, encircle, and lay, not 
a violent, but a firm, grasp upon the person appear- 
ing. If said person shall vanish from sight and 
touch, then all the world will admit that a veritable 
ghost has appeared among us. If, on the other 
hand, the person grasped turns out to be a human 
spirit in a human body, then all will know that these 
seances are base deceptions. Christ, as we know, did 
submit to an analogous test to prove that He was 
not a spirit. Why should not modern ghosts submit 
to a similar test, and thus demonstrate the fact that 
they are ghosts ? Let the public universally demand 
such a test, and not another seance will ever be held 
in Christendom, and that for the reason that these 
ghosts and their exhibitors know absolutely that 
their seances are vile deceptions, and that such tests 
will demonstrate them to be such. 

While such disclosures were being made in the city 
of Philadelphia, others of about equal importance 
were made in the cities of New York and Boston. 
An individual in the former city, being determined 
to know the truth on the subject, went to the noted 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 63 



Andrew Jackson Davis, who now keeps the great 
spiritualistic book-store in that city, and asked him 
if he could designate, among the quite one hundred 
individuals who were known to be holding seances in 
the city, one or more whose integrity could, in his 
judgment, be relied on. Knowing, as he did, that 
the question was put for the simple purpose of 
correct information, Mr. Davis refused, not only to 
designate such persons, but to express an opinion that 
there was one individual among them who was not 
habitually dealing in fraud and deception. When 
three of the most distinguished of all the others were 
designated and inquired about, Mr. Davis refused 
to express an opinion favourable to their integrity. 
His only re] to a' -oh inquiries was, " You must, 
as I do, out ' r yourself" The inquirer 

then visi ms referred to, and 

detecte d le rrlpts at deception 

conceivable. No candid mind can read the dis- 
closure this mc :ough the 
column Tew York and not infer 
that the trad hose mediums is "lying wonders." 
The mediums to which I now refer, do not make 
revek 1 I >. Fish and the Fox girls did, — that 
is, by 1. leans of real facts of nature which require 
explanation, which we shall hereafter attempt to 
explain, but means of slight-of-hand tricks which 
have bee :ed and connected with Spiritualism 



64 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



since its origin. The following article from the 
Boston Globe will, notwithstanding its length, be 
regarded as worthy of a place in our pages. 

" A young man lives within five miles of the state 
house who has made a study of all the tricks and 
illusions of modern legerdemain, and is an accom- 
plished performer therein, whose interest has been 
excited upon the subject of Spiritualism. Some of 
his friends had become devout believers in Spiritual- 
ism, and he, feeling assured in his own mind that 
th.ey were the victims of fraud, went to work to 
investigate and expose what had been to them the 
strongest evidence of spirit-presence. After three 
visits to the sea?zces of Mrs. Hard T n this city, he 
became convinced that he w^ r of the whole 

subject, at least so far a r circle m nifesta- 

tions were concerned xessful 
seance of his bw&* without the hei A spirits. Ac- 
cordingly he arranged for the sitting at his own home, 
and it took place last evening. The same repre- 
sentative o who made Mrs. 
Hardy and ga an account of wh a as it 
appeared to him, was among the pen 

" A company of seventeen perso; ially 
invited to see an expose of the dark-o ^sta- 
tions, gathered at this house. Whei all 
come together, they were taken to a lich 
chairs were arranged in the usual wa cle. 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 65 

They took their places, the chairs being drawn close 
together, making a ring of ten or twelve feet in 
diameter. The amateur "medium" took a chair in 
the middle of the circle, simply imposing the same 
conditions upon the company as are exacted by the 
professionals. The feet of one of the visitors were 
placed upon his to make sure that he did not move 
from his place, and he patted his hands together with 
a distinctly audible sound all the time, to show that 
they were not occupied in producing the manifesta- 
tions. The hands of the persons in the circle were 
clasped together in the usual way. The light was 
then turned out, and, after the momentary pause 
usual in 1 ~ases, the raps were heard which 
announcer sence of the powers of darkness. 

The patt ; 3 continued without intermission, 

and pres ,vas seized from one of the party, 

and fanr of the sitters all around the circle. 

Hands n and patted, knees were slapped 

and f< i by invisible beings. A watch 

was tc ne person and given to another on 

the c e of the circle. One man's cravat 

was .id given to another, and afterwards 

plac head of the owner. A music-box 

which n placed in the hands of one person 

wil 1 that of another was taken away and 

gi ther in another part of the circle. The 

ke; n and the box wound up, and it could be 

5 



66 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

heard tinkling through the air, above the head of the 
performer ; and all the other demonstrations usual in 
these circles were produced with all the effect of the 
genuine spiritual seance. Finally, there was a ces- 
sation for a moment ; raps were heard, indicating 
that the performance was over for the time being, a 
light was struck, and our amateur ' medium ' was 
discovered in precisely the position he occupied when 
the gas was turned out, quietly clapping his hands ; 
and the person who held his feet testified that he 
had not moved. After a little rest, he took a new 
position, with a different person holding- his feet, and 
substantially the same pe- r 7 as repeated. 

All the persons present, se 1 m had been 

believers in Spiritualism, d the mani- 

festations were every way as satisfactory 
as any that they had ever expv 

"The young man then trie nent with 

perfect success, which he saic een Mrs. 

Hardy try three times, but with because, 
as she claimed, the conditions ght for 

a proper working of the spirits. .^d to a 

chair with a cord, the lower and of his 

body, and had his wrists tied togc hand- 
kerchief, in such a way that on opose 
that he would be unable to do an; feet 
were secured, as usual, a glass of 1 on 

the floor some feet from his chair, hts 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 67 



turned out. Instantly the clapping began, and 
similar demonstrations to those already described 
were kept up for a few minutes, and then a light 
struck, when the performer w r as revealed in the 
same position as before, with the cords and hand- 
kerchiefs securely tied, and the glass of water 
standing on his head. Yet another feat, more re- 
markable than this, followed. An ordinary padlock, 
which closed with a spring, was locked, and the key 
given into the keeping of a young lady. A cord was 
passed through the clasp and tied together w r ith one 
hard knot after another, until more than a foot of 
knots was produced. This w r as thrown upon the floor. 
Then an euchre pack of cards was taken, including all 
the suits from the ten to the ace, and enough thrown 
out to reduce the number to seventeen, the number 
of persons in the circle. After due instructions had 
been given, the circle was formed in the usual way, 
with the medium in the customary position, clapping 
his hands. The lights were again turned out. The 
cards were taken from the box and shuffled by one 
person and passed to his left-hand neighbour, who 
shuffled them again, and so on around the circle. 
The person who began the shuffling then took the 
top card, and passed the pack along, each person 
taking off the top card in like manner, thus using up 
the entire pack. Then the first person interrogated 
the medium as to the card which the said person 



68 Phenomena of Spijdtualism 



held. ' Is it a heart ? ' 4 Is it a diamond V ' Is it a 
spade ? ' ' Is it a club ? ' At the mention of some 
one of the suit, distinct raps were heard, indicating 
that that was the one. ' Is it the ten ? ' ' Is it the 
jack ? ' ' Is it the queen ? ' etc., was then asked, and 
when the right denomination was named the raps 
were repeated. So it went on around the entire 
circle, each person, meantime, having the card in his 
or her pocket, and being warned to remember what 
it was, according to the information of the raps. 
This process being completed, the light was struck. 
The ( medium ' was bound up and tied to his chair 
with the cord that had been fastened so securely 
upon the lock, his hands were tied together with a 
handkerchief, and he was securely blindfolded with 
another handkerchief, and the lock was clasped into 
the button-hole of a gentleman's coat. Moreover, 
every person, without exception, found that he held 
the card designated in the dark by the raps. 

" Nov/, of course, everybody was anxious to know 
how it was done. It was as mystifying as anything 
accomplished in the dark by professional mediums. 
The young man volunteered to give the first mani- 
festations with the gas burning. The circle was 
formed in the approved way, the raps were made 
with his knuckles on the chair without perceptibly 
interrupting the clapping, to indicate that the con- 
ditions were right. In an instant he slipped off his 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 69 

coat, and his arms were bare to the shoulders. 
While he kept clapping with one hand, sometimes on 
the upper part of his arm, sometimes on the face, 
he stretched out the other hand, seized a fan, and 
fanned the faces all around. With one hand and 
then the other he clapped knees, shook hands, patted 
faces, and did everything done before in the dark 
without any intermission of the clapping, any moving 
of the feet, or any audible movement of the body. 
The whole thing was as simple as ' rolling off a log.' 
The coat was put on, one arm at a time, while the 
other hand kept up the patting sound on the per- 
former's cheek, and the raps were given telling that the 
show was over. A woman with loose sleeves, furnished 
with a bit of elastic, would not have to take off or put 
on any garment. The other and more puzzling tricks 
were not explained, but everybody believed the 
assurance which they received, that they were tricks, 
and nothing more. The young man claims to have 
learned the art from his visit to Mrs. Hardy's circle, 
and to have obtained indubitable evidence that it 
was performed as he had shown. What the evidence 
w r as he stated, and it certainly seemed to be beyond 
question.'' 

Mr. and Mrs. Holmes, it is well known, made quite 
a sensation in London before they opened rooms 
in Philadelphia. Mrs. White— this is not her real 
name, it being, at her earnest entreaty, kept from 



70 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



the public — was persuaded to furnish the letters 
which she had received from Mr. and Mrs. Holmes. 
We give one of these, as an example of the rest, 
that the public may understand by what kind of 
persons sensible people are being humbugged. Of 
the individuals who practise these deceptions, those 
that I have met with are uniformly of a low order 
of mind, with two exceptions — a bold and fear- 
less impudence (like that with which a vile louse 
was once seen walking over the silk dress of a fair 
lady), and a sly cunning, which makes them perfect 
adepts in the arts of deception. Those who origi- 
nated, and carried to the highest perfection, the ghost- 
seances of the United States, were wholly from the 
lower strata of society. Mrs. Holmes was accus- 
tomed to call her Katie, Frank, and Frankie. Of the 
authenticity of the following letter, and others of a 
kindred character, the Philadelphia Enquirer affirms 
that there can be no doubt. We feel humiliated 
w r hen we read it, to think that sensible people will 
consent to be humbugged by such minds. 

" Blissfield, August 24, 1874. 
" Dear Frank :— I wish I could see you to day 
it is very dull here in this little town, Nelson is 
ritten too and I expect he will rite all the news 
to you you need not bee afraid of our not dooing 
the fair thing with you for we shall. I have been 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 7 1 

quite cick and am not able to set up now but thought 
I must rite a few lines to you I got dispointed in 
gitting the money that I told you I expected I 
found my brother in poor circumstances so he could 
not pay me eney thing but Nelson says he will send 
you fifty dollars next week then you had better cum 
as soon as you get this how is Sam getin along let 
me know. A kiss for you, from 

" Jennie Holmes." 

" exkuse this for I am cick to day love to Sam I 
must tell you something good Nelson and I have 
been very good to each other we have not had a 
cross werd since we left home that makes me feel 
glad and you will sympathise with me wont you dear 
Frank." 

Photography axd Spiritualism. 

The main reliance of Spiritualism, at the present 
time, as I have recently been informed by a very 
intelligent spiritualist in this city, is upon spirit- 
phenomena connected with the art of photography. 
Spirits now disturb photographers (of the spiritual- 
istic class) by causing their own likenesses to appear 
on the background on the plates on which the 
likenesses of individuals are being taken. In regard 
to this new wonder of Spiritualism, I would say, in all 



72 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



sincerity, that any man who is as well acquainted 
with past wonders of the system as the author of this 
treatise is, and does not choose to be humbugged, 
will be in the same attitude of mind in respect to this 
new wonder that a Dutch justice of the peace in 
America was towards an individual who was being 
tried before the former for theft. When the in- 
dictment was read, the prisoner confessed his guilt. 
The justice, however, called for witnesses to prove 
the charge. "Why," said the attorney for the 
prosecution, " the man confesses his crime." " I 
know that," replied the justice, " but the fellow is 
such an infernal liar, that he is not to be believed, let 
him say what he will." Every solitary wonder which 
Spiritualism has added to the kind of facts originally 
presented by Mrs. Fish and the Fox girls, has turned 
out to be a deception. We should, therefore, de- 
mentate ourselves, if we should run after any new 
wonder the system may present. In the case before 
us, however, the art by which just such spirit-faces 
as are shown in this city can be produced, is well 
known in America, and also, as I suppose, in this 
country ; and just as many such likenesses can be 
furnished to order as those who wish to be hum- 
bugged will consent to pay for. The likenesses, also, 
which we have seen, are of such a low and mundane 
character, that any sensible man would blush with 
inward shame to admit that they are spirit- repre- 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 73 



sentations. These likenesses, also, present demon- 
strative proof that they are wholly deceptive. If 
a spirit were present for the purpose of having his 
likeness appear, he would be there as an invisible 
and intangible presence, and the light from the ob- 
jects behind the spirit would be passing through it 
as freely as if it were not there. Those objects, con- 
sequently, by the laws of light, must appear in the 
background, and the spirit-face, if it should appear at 
all, would, by no possibility, appear but as a thin veil 
before said objects. When a veiled countenance is 
taken, for example, the countenance and the veil 
both appear, with the latter as before the former. 
So of the spirit-face. If it should appear at all, it 
must appear with the objects behind distinctly seen 
through it. The spirit-faces, in all the cases in which 
they are shown, as completely hide, on the other 
hand, the objects behind, as do the countenances of 
individuals who are sitting for the purpose of having 
said likenesses taken. Here, then, Spiritualism de- 
mands that our credulity shall be infinite ; that is, 
that we admit the occurrence of facts through natural 
laws — facts, the occurrence of which, without miracu- 
lous interposition, the known laws of nature render 
impossible. 

To the above, spiritualists present this reply : the 
spirit, when present, draws to itself all the electricity 
existing in all the bodies present, and then produces 



74 



Phenomena of Spiritualism 



its own image, not through common, but through 
electric, light. Here we have a mere assumption, 
unsustained by the remotest degree of evidence what- 
ever. Besides, as electric differs from common light, 
so must the appearance of the countenances which 
they respectively produce, differ from one another. 
No such differences, however, do appear. We have 
all the evidence, on the other hand, that we possibly 
can have, that all images which appear upon the 
plate were originated there by the same identical 
kind of light. Nor, I remark finally, does the elec- 
tricity which the spirit may gather to itself prevent 
the common light from passing, with absolute ful- 
ness and freedom, from the objects behind the spirit 
to the place where they must image their own forms. 
Every aspect in which the subject can be viewed,, 
renders the photographic pretensions of Spiritualism, 
like its other " lying wonders," intentional deceptions. 
I have been gravely assured but a few days since, and 
that in the city of London, that spirit-likenesses are 
actually taken in total darkness. " Give me light," 
exclaimed the ancient Grecian hero, " and Ajax asks 
no more." " Give me darkness," exclaims Spiritualism, 
"and if creatures are disposed to be humbugged, I 
can deceive the universe." That is all the reply that 
such a pretension demands of any sensible person. 

I have been told that, in America, photographs 
are taken in which the objects behind the spirit are 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 75 

also seen through it. The art of producing just such 
phenomena, and that without the aid of spirits, is well 
known in that country. We do, also, a great many 
strange things in America, and seem to be endowed 
with special gifts for humbugging sensible people 
on this side of the Atlantic. I give it as my opinion, 
that no object absolutely invisible and intangible 
can be photographed at all. Any object to be pho- 
tographed must possess sufficient solidity to receive, 
stop, and reflect light, and that in sufficient quan- 
tity to make an image; and such object must be 
visible. If the art under consideration has verified 
anything, I think it has done this, that light re- 
flected from any object cannot form an image more 
visible than is the object which reflects the light. 



LEVITATION. 

Much is said in the papers, at the present time, 
on the subject of levitation, the ascent of human 
and other bodies from the earth, and that from no 
visible cause. In the progress of this treatise, facts 
of this character will be undeniably verified. Such 
facts, however, as will also appear, have no more con- 
nexion with the claims of Spiritualism, one way or 
the other, than they have with the transit of Venus. 
Suppose that a human or any other heavy body 
should rise up before us, and we cannot tell the reason 



76 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

why. What infinite fools we should make of our- 
selves, if we should leap to the conclusion, that in- 
tangible, impalpable, and unearthly spirits laid hold 
of that object, and lifted it from the earth. Let us 
not, in our reasonings upon this and other subjects, 
permit our intelligence to fly to "brutish beasts." 

CONCLUDING REMARKS, AND PLAN OF THE 
TREATISE. 

Thus far, as has been rendered sufficiently evident, 
the proofs adduced in favour of Spiritualism — proofs 
drawn from visible and tangible manifestations of 
spirit-presence — have been palpable failures, and 
have turned out to the dishonour of not a few of 
its advocates. At the basis of the system, however, 
there have, in all ages and countries (for the system 
is about as old as the race), — there have been at the 
basis of the system, we say, real facts of an intel- 
lectual and physical character, which demand a care- 
ful examination of all who would understand the 
world within and the world without them, as they 
are. It will readily be admitted by all candid minds, 
that if the classes of facts now under consideration 
shall be fully explained, and evinced as resulting 
from exclusively mundane causes, the residuum may 
be left for future investigation and discovery, and 
thus left with the assurance that science will dis- 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 77 

cover for these a similar exposition. In prose- 
cuting our investigations, we shall consider the 
subject in the following order: — 

L Electricity, Magnetism, and Animal Magnetism 
distinguished. — Effects of Animal Magnetism 
upon the Human System. 
II. The Odylic or Psychic Force — Its Properties — Its 
Relations to Spirit-manifestations, and to the 
Phenomena of Mesmerism and Clairvoyance. 

III. Physical and Intellectual Manifestations Eluci- 

dated. 

IV. Proof that all these Manifestations have an 

Exclusively Mundane Origin. 
V. Tendency of Spiritualism. 
VI. Miscellaneous Topics. 



78 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



CHAPTER L 

ELECTRICITY, MAGNETISM, AND ANIMAL 
MAGNETISM DISTINGUISHED. 

In accomplishing the object immediately before us, 
we would remark, that philosophers have unitedly 
affirmed, and the public generally are now fully 
aware, of the truth of that affirmation, the existence 
and action of the three following distinct powers 
or forces in nature, namely, Electricity, Magnetism, 
and Animal Magnetism. While they all have many 
characteristics in common, each is distinguished from 
the others by properties altogether special and pecu- 
liar. They all have in common polarity, and with 
it the power of strongly attracting and repelling 
certain bodies. The points of agreement and dis- 
tinction between electricity and magnetism are thus 
set forth by Professor Olmsted : " Electricity and 
magnetism agree in the following particulars. I. 
Each consists of two species, the vitreous and 
resinous electricities, and the austral and boreal 
magnetisms. 2. In both cases, those of the same 
name repel, and those of opposite names attract, each 
other. 3. The laws of induction in both are very 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed, 79 

analogous. 4. The force, in each, varies inversely 
as the square of the distance. 5. The power, in both 
cases, resides at the surface of bodies, and is inde- 
pendent of their mass. 

u But electricity and magnetism are as remarkably 
unlike in the following particulars. 1. Electricity is 
capable of being excited in all bodies, and of being 
imparted to all ; magnetism resides almost exclu- 
sively in iron in its different forms, and, with a few 
exceptions, cannot be excited in any but ferruginous 
bodies. 2. Electricity may be transferred from one 
body to another ; magnetism is incapable of such 
transference ; magnets communicate their properties 
merely by induction, a process in which no por- 
tion of fluid is withdrawn from the magnetizing 
body. 3. When a body of an elongated figure is 
electrified by induction, on being divided in the 
middle, the two parts possess respectively the kind of 
electricity only w 7 hich each had before the separation ; 
but when a bar of steel or a needle magnetized by 
induction is broken into any number of parts, each 
part has both polarities, and becomes a perfect 
magnet. 4. The directive properties and the various 
consequences that result from it, the declination, 
annual and diurnal variations, the dip, the different 
intensities in different parts of the earth, are all 
peculiar to the magnet, and do not appertain to 
electrified bodies." 



8o Phenomena of Spiritualism 



Animal magnetism has, in common with the two 
forces above named, as we have said, polarity, and 
consequently the property of attraction and repul- 
sion. This statement is verified by an experiment 
with which all who have seen persons in a magnetic 
or mesmeric sleep are familiar. When the ends 
of the fingers of the magnetizer, for example, are 
brought near those of the magnetized, the latter 
being perfectly blindfolded, so as not at all to be 
aware of what is being done, the hand of the person 
magnetized will instantly be attracted towards that 
of the magnetizer, and will follow it in any direction, 
just as the loadstone, and evidently for the same 
reason, draws after itself the needle, or any object 
in respect to which it has attractive power. Here 
stands revealed the polarity, and consequently the 
attractive force of this mysterious power in nature. 
Its essential dissimilarity from electricity, is equally 
manifest in the fact, that living bodies can be charged 
with the former in circumstances in which they 
cannot be with the latter, that is, in the presence of 
electric conductors. The human body, for example, 
can be charged with the electric fluid, only by being 
placed upon glass, or some other non-conductor. In 
direct and immediate contact with such non-con- 
ductors, the same body may be most fully charged 
with animal magnetism. From magnetism it is 
distinguished with equal manifestness, by the fact, 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 81 

that it may be excited, in all its force, in animal 
bodies, while the former is developed, in force, only 
in iron and kindred substances. We might refer to 
other characteristics, in which this substance, or 
force in nature, is distinguished from electricity on 
the one hand, and from magnetism on the other. The 
above, however, are sufficient for our present purpose. 
It remains to specify some of the peculiar cha- 
racteristics of this pow 7 er, as developed in animal 
bodies — the human body we now refer to. Among 
these we would specify the following, to which very 
special attention is invited, as they will hereafter 
be seen to have a fundamental bearing upon our 
present inquiries. 

EFFECTS OF ANIMAL MAGNETISM UPON THE 
HUMAN SYSTEM. 

I. It operates with immense power upon the 
muscular system, imparting to the limbs a rigidity 
and inflexibility which render any motion at the 
joints almost as impossible as at any other parts. 
We will give a single fact in illustration, a fact 
which occurred some years since in the city of Cleve- 
land, Ohio. The subject was a young woman who 
laboured as a domestic in the family where the fact 
occurred. After putting the individual into a mag- 
netic sleep, and while she was sitting in a chair, 

6 



82 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



the magnetizer extended her right arm in a hori- 
zontal direction, and having made a few passes 
of his hand from the shoulder to the hand of the 
subject, he requested the pastor of the First Presby- 
terian Church of that city, who was present by in- 
vitation, to bring that arm down from the position 
referred to. Taking hold of the hand and wrist of 
the subject, and pressing downward with much 
weight, he expressed the fear that he should break 
the arm, should he add to the pressure. On being 
assured by the magnetizer that he had no reason 
for apprehension on that subject, Dr. Aikin affirms 
that he laid out all the strength he could command, 
without being able to move the limb downwards. 
It seemed to possess the inflexibility of a rod of 
steel. The above fact comes from a source which 
will command universal belief, and is but one among 
numberless others of a similar nature that might be 
cited. With what astonishing power must this force 
act upon the muscular system to produce such 
results ! 

2. Such also is the effect of this substance, or 
force, upon the physical system generally, that 
the mind is thereby, in many instances, wholly in- 
sulated from any communication with the external 
world, through any of the senses, and, in instances 
not a few, rendered equally insensible to any effects 
produced upon the physical organization itself. A 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 83 



limb may be amputated, for example, and the 
subject experience no pain, nor any conscious 
sensation whatever, from the operation. The senses 
also are all locked up from any communications with 
the world around but through those with whom, 
and in respect to objects with which, they are in 
mesmeric communication. Facts falling under this 
class are too well authenticated to be denied, and 
too well known to need illustration, or explanation 
by the citation of particular examples. 

3. In some instances, under the influence of this 
same substance, the perceptive faculties are greatly 
quickened, so that the mind perceives objects which 
lie wholly beyond, and at a great remove from, the 
reach of the senses, when the mental and physical 
powers are in a normal state. That perceptions of 
this character are to be numbered among real facts 
of clairvoyance, there can rest upon no candid mind, 
which has made adequate investigations, any doubt 
whatever. " However astonishing," says Sir William 
Hamilton, " it is now proved beyond all rational 
doubt, that in certain abnormal states of the nervous 
organism, perceptions are possible through other than 
the ordinary channels of the senses." " It has been, 
I believe," says Dr. Wayland, " proved beyond 
dispute, that persons under this influence have sub- 
mitted to the most distressing operations without 
consciousness of pain ; that other persons have 



84 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

cognized events at a great distance, and have related 
them correctly at the time ; and that persons totally 
blind, when in a state of mesmeric consciousness, 
have enjoyed for the time the power of perceiving 
external objects.' , As we wish to have very special 
attention directed to this class of facts, on account of 
their bearings upon our subsequent inquiries, we will 
confirm the truth of the above statement of Dr. 
Wayland, by the following extract from a letter 
addressed to him by J. M. Brooke, Esq., of the 
United States Navy, and contained in the work from 
which the above is taken, namely, " Wayland's Intel- 
lectual Philosophy." 

"Washington, Oct. 27, 1851. 
" Sir, — It affords me pleasure to comply with your 
request, made through my brother William, relative 
to some experiments performed on board the United 
States steamer * Princeton/ in the latter part of the 
year 1847 > s he being then on a cruise in the Medi- 
terranean. Nathaniel Bishop, the subject of the ex- 
periments, was a mulatto, about twenty-six years 
of age, in good health, but of an excitable dispo- 
sition. The first experiment was of the magnetic or 
mesmeric sleep, which overpowered him in thirty 
minutes from the commencement of the passes made 
in the ordinary way, accompanied with a steadfast 
gaze and effort of will that he should sleep. 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed, 85 

"In this state he was insensible to all voices but 
mine, unless I directed or willed him to hear others : 
he was also insensible to such amount of pain as one 
might inflict without injury, that is, what would have 
been pain to another. He would obey my directions 
to whistle, dance, or sing. When aroused from this 
sleep he had no recollection of what occurred while 
in it That such an influence could be exerted, I 
was already aware, having previously witnessed satis- 
factory experiments. Of clairvoyance I had never 
been convinced ; indeed, considered it nothing but a 
sort of dreaming produced by the will of the operator. 
I became aware of its truth rather through accident 
than design, 

u It happened, one day, that some of my brother 
officers asked a question which the others could not 
answer. Bishop, who had been a few moments before 
in a mesmeric sleep, gave the desired information, 
speaking with confidence and apparent accuracy. 
As the information related to something which it 
seemed almost impossible to know without seeing, we 
were very much surprised. It struck me that he 
might be clairvoyant ; and I at once asked him to 
tell me the time by a watch kept in the binnacle, on 
the spar or upper deck, we being on the berth or 
lower deck. He answered correctly, as I found upon 
looking at the watch, allowing eight or nine seconds 
for time occupied in getting on deck. I then asked 



86 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



him many questions with regard to objects at a 
distance, which he answered, and, as far as I could 
ascertain, correctly. 

u For example, one evening, while at anchor in the 
port of Genoa, the captain was on shore. I asked 
Bishop, in the presence of several officers, where the 
captain then was. He replied, 'At the opera with 
Mr. Lester, the consul.' ' What does he say ? ' I 
inquired. Bishop appeared to listen, and in a 
moment replied, ' The captain tells Mr. Lester, that 
he was much pleased with the port of Xavia ; that 
the authorities treated him with much consideration/ 
Upon this, one of the officers laughed, and said that 
when the captain returned he would ask him. He 
did so, saying, " Captain, we have been listening to 
your conversation while on shore/ ' Very well/ 
remarked the captain, ' what did I say ? ' expecting 
some jest. Then the officer repeated what the 
captain had said of Xavia and its authorities. £ Ah,' 
said the captain, ' who was at the opera ? I did not 
see any of the officers there/ The lieutenant then 
explained the matter. The captain confirmed its 
truth, and seemed much surprised, as there had been 
no other communication with the shore during the 
evening. I may remark that we touched at several 
ports between Xavia and Genoa. 

" On another occasion, an officer being on shore, I 
directed Bishop to examine his pockets ; he made 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 87 

several motions with his hands, as if actually drawing 
something from the officer's pockets, saying, ' Here is 
a handkerchief and a box ; what a curious thing ! 
full of little white sticks with blue ends. What are 
they, Mr. Brooke ? ' I replied, ' Perhaps they are 
matches.' ' So they are!' he exclaimed. My com- 
panion, expecting the officer mentioned, went on 
deck, and meeting him at the gangway, asked, ' What 
have you in your pockets ? ' ' Nothing,' he replied. 
' But have you not a box of matches ? ' 6 Oh ! 
yes!' said he. ' How did you know it? I bought 
them just before I came on board. The matches are 
peculiar, made of white wax with blue ends.' 

" The surgeons of the ' Princeton' ridiculed these 
experiments, upon which I requested one of them 
(Farquharson) to test for himself, which he consented 
to do. With some care he placed Bishop and myself 
in one corner of the apartment, and then took a 
position some ten feet distant, concealing between his 
hands a watch, the long hand of which traversed the 
dial. He first asked for a description of the watch, 
To which Bishop replied, "Tis a funny watch, the 
second hand jumps.' 

" The doctor then asked him to tell the minute and 
second, which he did ; directly afterwards exclaiming, 
c The second hand has stopped ! ' which was the case; 
Dr. Farquharson having stopped it. ' Well/ said the 
doctor, ' to what second does it point, and to what 



88 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



hour, and what minute is it now ? ' Bishop answered 
correctly, adding, ' Tis going again/ He then told 
twice in succession the minute and second. 

"The doctor was convinced, saying that it was 
contrary to reason, but he must believe. I then pro- 
posed that the doctor should mark ; and directed 
Bishop to look in his mother's house, in Lancaster, 
Pa. (where he had never been), for a clock ; he said 
there was one, and told the time by it ; one of the 
officers calculated the difference in time for the longi- 
tudes of Lancaster and Genoa, and the clock was 
found to agree within five minutes of the watch time." 

4. The relations existing between the magnetized, 
when in the magnetic state, and the magnetizer or 
other persons in mesmeric communication with the 
person magnetized, next claim our special attention. 
Among these relations the following may be specified 
as having a special bearing upon our present investi- 
gations. (1.) Any sensations induced by any cause 
in the magnetizer are instantly reproduced in the 
individual magnetized, and that when it is impossible 
to induce any such feelings by any effects directly 
produced upon the physical organization of the latter. 
If the magnetizer tastes, smells, or touches any 
particular object, the person magnetized instantly 
experiences the same sensations. Any sensation 
unexpectedly induced in the former, by secretly 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 89 

twitching his hair, pinching his body, or pricking 
it with a needle or pin, and when this is done in a 
manner and form which preclude the possibility of 
any knowledge of what is done, on the part of the 
latter, — any sensations, we say, even thus induced in 
the magnetizer, will be instantly reproduced in the 
person magnetized, each individual, in almost all 
instances, being affected in the same part of the 
physical system. A gentleman of our acquaintance, 
to remove all doubt from his own mind in regard to 
the question of collusion, called a magnetizer aside, 
and while speaking to him, put a vial of hartshorn to 
his nose, the vial having just before been sent for 
from a distance : " Do take that from my nose," 
instantly exclaimed the subject who was in a magnetic 
state. The world is full of facts of a precisely similar 
nature wherever the mesmeric phenomena have been 
witnessed. 

The law which obtains in these circumstances 
seems to be this. This mysterious power acts with 
such force upon the sensitivity of the individual 
under its influence (the person magnetized), that it 
can, for the time, be affected but through this one 
power. Any feeling or sensation induced in the 
magnetizer acts upon this power, and through it 
upon the sensitivity of the person magnetized, re- 
producing there the same feelings which had pre- 
viously been induced in the magnetizer. 



90 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

(2.) In a similar manner, the thoughts of the 
magnetizer are reproduced in the mind of the indi- 
vidual magnetized, especially when the former wills 
it. This holds true, not only in regard to common 
conceptions, but equally of all acts of the imagi- 
nation. A very intelligent and pious lady, a mem- 
ber of the Baptist church in Poughkeepsie, N. Y., 
while upon her death-bed, made the following 
statement to her pastor, from whom we received 
the same : "When you come to investigate the facts 
of mesmerism," she remarked, " you will find this 
to be true, that the clairvoyant, when in mesmeric 
communication with you, can speak your thoughts. I 
was once present when A. J. Davis, then a lad, was 
in this state, and w r as requested to touch his fore- 
head with my own. I did so, and found that he. 
would instantly speak out any thought that came 
into my mind." 

A scientific gentleman from the interior of New 
England, while in the city of New York, some years 
ago, called upon, and was put into mesmeric com- 
munication with, a clairvoyant whom he had never 
seen before. The latter mentally accompanied the 
former to his (the inquirer's) father s residence, de- 
scribing the facts of the journey, the external and 
internal appearance of the house and the surrounding 
scenery just in accordance with his recollections and 
conceptions at the time. He then imagined a 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 91 

meeting-house standing before the front door of 
that residence (no such object existing), and asked 
the clairvoyant, "What do you see now?" "A 
meeting-house," was the answer. The object was 
then described in exact accordance with the image 
pre-existing in the inquirers mind, both in regard 
to location, form, size, colour, etc. 

(3.) A control equally perfect can the magnetizer 
exercise over the muscular system of the individual 
in a magnetic state. By simply willing it, with no 
external motions whatever, the latter can render the 
whole body, or any given member of the same, per- 
fectly stiff and motionless, and hold it in any given 
position for any given length of time. This power 
often continues for a period subsequent to the time 
when the subject has come out of a mesmeric state. 
Take as an illustration and confirmation of this state- 
ment, the following additional extract from the letter 
of J. M. Brooke, Esq.: " The power which I acquired 
by putting him to sleep remained after he woke, and 
was increased by its exercise. If not exerted for 
several days, it decreased, sometimes rendering it 
necessary to repeat the passes, and again put him 
to sleep. While awake, and under my influence, I 
made many experiments, such as arresting his arm 
when raising food to his mouth, or fixing him mo- 
tionless in the attitude of drinking. On one occasion 
I willed that he should continue pouring tea into a 



92 Phenomena oj Spiritualism 

cup already filled, which he did, notwithstanding the 
exclamations of those who were scalded in the opera- 
tion. These influences were exerted without a word 
or change of position on my part." 

(4.) Hence I remark, in the last place, that the 
entire mental and physical activity of the mag- 
netized is, in many instances, under the complete 
control of the magnetizer, while the mesmeric rela- 
tion between them continues — a relation which, as 
we have seen, often continues for a period, longer or 
shorter, after the subject has come out of a mes- 
meric sleep. The wildest imaginings of the latter 
are thus reproduced in the mind of the former, the 
objects of those imaginings appearing as objects of 
real external perception. The magnetizer puts his 
handkerchief, for example, into the hands of his 
magnetic subject, and it becomes, to that subject, a 
flower of surpassing beauty, a kitten, lap-dog, an 
infant, or a serpent, just as the magnetizer secretly 
wills. Mr. Brooke says still further of his sub- 
ject : " He remembered or forgot what he saw 
when clairvoyant, as I willed, of which I satisfied 
myself by experiment. All his senses were under 
control, so completely indeed, that had I willed 
him to stop breathing I believe that he would." 
A magnetizer agreed with a friend of ours, a 
gentleman of the most unquestionable veracity, to 
induce his magnetic subject to sing, she being a 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 93 

beautiful singer, and to stop the singing the instant 
our friend raised his finger. As the singing pro 
ceeded, and while the singer was uttering a long 
note, our friend raised his finger, and the voice in- 
stantly ceased, with that note half finished. The 
magnetizer willed the singing to proceed again, and 
that note, a thing impossible to a person in a normal 
condition, was finished, and with it the remainder 
of the stanza. This was done while the subject 
was deeply blindfolded, and the magnetizer stood 
several feet from her, with his eyes fixed intently 
upon our friend, waiting for the raising of his finger. 
No collusion therefore was possible. 

Facts of the most authentic character, and bearing 
with equal force upon the same conclusion, might be 
multiplied to any extent. These, however, are abun- 
dantly sufficient. From all the facts above adduced, 
pertaining to the action of this mysterious power in 
nature, the following conclusions are undeniable :— 

1. There is in nature a medium of communication 
between mind and mind, other than that by which 
communications are had, through the ordinary chan- 
nels of the senses. 

2. Through this same force, one mind may, when 
the proper conditions are fulfilled, control the action 
of the mental and physical powers of another mind. 

3. The action of this force upon the physical 
system, and through it upon the mind of the mag- 



94 Phenomena of Spiritualisin 



netized, is as the feelings, thoughts, and purposes of 
the magnetizer. 

4. Through this same power, the mind of the 
person magnetized, when he happens to be in mes- 
meric communication (rapport) with any object, how- 
ever distant, and how T ever removed from the reach 
of the senses, will have a direct and immediate 
cognition of the same. 

5. The action of this force, when certain conditions 
are fulfilled, is determined, in many important par- 
ticulars, by mental states and acts, and accords with 
the same, and here its nature and relations to mind 
stand revealed; a fact of fundamental importance, 
but which seems not, hitherto, to have been distinctly 
and generally recognised by philosophers. Mesmeric 
facts have demonstrated the existence of this power 
in nature, and thereby laid the foundation for the 
explanation of many facts around us w T hich have, to 
this time, appeared to be totally inexplicable. 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 95 



CHAPTER II. 

THE ODYLIC, ODIC, OR PSYCHIC FORCE. 

To prepare the way still further for the full and 
distinct elucidation of the subject before us, we will 
now advance to a consideration of a peculiar force in 
nature, a force the existence, properties, and laws of 
which philosophers had developed and verified, by 
the most careful and decisive experiments, years 
prior to the appearance of these so-called spirit- 
manifestations, and which they had denominated the 
Odylic Force. This force, which indeed pervades 
all bodies in nature, has many properties in common 
with electricity and magnetism— polarity, and with it 
the property of attracting and repelling other bodies, 
for example. At the same time, it differs from these 
forces in particulars equally fundamental, being, for 
example, undeniably transmissible through magnetic 
and electric non-conductors. The physical organisms 
of individuals of peculiar physical temperaments, be- 
come, in some instances, in certain localities, per- 
manently and very strongly charged with this force. 
The following may be enumerated, as among the 



9 6 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



more important phenomena which characterize its 
developments under such circumstances. 

1. It acts upon other objects, and is reacted upon 
by them, as a very strong attractive and repulsive 
power ; objects, in many instances, even without 
visible contact, being drawn towards or driven from 
such individuals, and in other particulars acted upon 
in a very singular and unaccountable manner. 

2. Upon the walls, floor, and ceiling of rooms 
occupied by such individuals, rapping sounds, very 
much like those produced by striking against such 
objects with the knuckles, or with a mallet, are not 
unfrequently heard ; such phenomena being also 
occasionally attended with a sensible jarring of sur- 
rounding objects, and sometimes with rumbling 
sounds, resembling the roaring of distant thunder. 

3. The physical systems of such individuals are 
very powerfully affected, so powerfully as, in many 
instances, to derange totally the action of the mental 
powers. 

4. In the mental developments thus induced, we 
have, without exception, all the mesmeric and clair- 
voyant phenomena, as above presented. 

5. This force, when developed in the human organ- 
ism, has generally a special location in some of the 
nerve centres. When such centre is not immediately 
connected with the brain, then the action of this force, 
like that of magnetism, is simply that of a repulsive 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 97 



and attractive power, without the characteristics of 
intelligence. When that centre is the brain, then the 
direction of the action of this power bears, in many 
important particulars, the characteristics of intelli- 
gence, the action of the force, in such cases, being 
not only in accordance with, but evidently directed 
by, mental states. 

In illustration of the above statements, and in 
verification of the same, we will now present a 
few well-authenticated facts. We cite only such 
facts as have a direct and immediate bearing upon 
our present inquiries. Those who would under- 
stand the science of the Odylic Force, are referred 
to the fundamental works upon the subject which 
are now before the public. 

With facts which really and truly indicate the 
existence and action of such a force in nature, 
so far especially as its attractive and repulsive 
properties are concerned, almost every one is, no 
doubt, familiar, though these facts, as generally 
witnessed, having nothing of a startling character 
about them, have, for the most part, escaped any 
special notice. Who has not witnessed, for example, 
in passing his hand over the head of another, the 
evidence of an attraction between the hand and 
the hair upon the head of such individual, an at- 
traction sufficient to disarrange the hair, and cause 
the ends of it to rise from the head ? Such facts 

7 



98 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

clearly indicate the existence of the attractive force 
of which we are speaking. Some months since, as 
we called upon an aged clergyman who was just 
recovering from sickness, he related to us a some- 
what interesting fact which had just occurred in 
his own experience. While engaged, a day or two 
previous, in adjusting some papers for the purpose 
of putting them on file, on withdrawing his hand 
from the paper which he had placed upon the top of 
others, that object followed his hand, being evidently 
attracted by it. After repeated attempts, he found 
it impossible to adjust that paper, because it would 
follow his hand when he would withdraw it. His 
attention being thus attracted, he was led to make 
some special experiments. On placing the ends of 
his fingers upon the paper, and raising them up, 
the object adhered to them, and remained, for some 
time, suspended, just as a needle and other objects 
are raised and suspended by the magnet. On trial, 
he found that no such attraction existed, at the 
time, between his hand and any other paper before 
him, for the obvious reason that this attractive force, 
the presence of which is here undeniably evinced, 
was not thus relatively developed between his hand 
and any other paper, as between it and this one. 
We have only to suppose this same force developed 
between the organism of this individual and some 
heavy object, such as the table, and developed to 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 99 



a certain degree of strength and intensity, and for 
the same reason that this paper was attracted by 
his hand so as to be raised from the table, the table 
itself would be drawn after him all around the 
room, or thus driven from him, if the polarity of 
this force, as developed in his organism and the 
object, were different or opposite from what we 
have supposed it to be. The table itself, also, 
attracted by the hand of the individual just as the 
paper referred to was, might, like that object, be 
lifted from the floor, and for the same reason. 
Suppose, further, that this force should happen to 
be developed at the same time, and in the same 
form, in the table and the floor beneath it. In 
that case, on the known principle that, with all 
forces having polarity, opposite poles attract, while 
the same ones repel each other, the table would 
be spontaneously lifted from the floor, and, for a 
time, held, as by an invisible power, suspended in 
the atmosphere. If the same force was developed 
at the time, in some object near, but with opposite 
polarity, then the table would be drawn towards 
such object, whirled over, and thrown, it might be, 
with much violence upon the floor. Thus alter- 
nately attracted by some objects, and repelled by 
others, it would now be driven forcibly against 
some individuals, and fly from others with seeming 
terror, and tumbled strangely about the room, till 



ioo Phenomena of Spiritualism 

all present were convinced that it must be bewitched, 
while all these terrifying phenomena are the ex- 
clusive result of the natural and necessary action 
of a peculiar force existing in nature all around us, 
a force which, like electricity in a thunderstorm, 
happens, at this time, to be developed with special 
power, in this particular locality, and in connexion 
with the objects referred to, and when these now 
strange and unaccountable phenomena lose all their 
power to astonish and to terrify, as soon as the 
existence and properties of the force from which 
they result come to be recognised and understood. 

A lady attempts to spread out upon a table a 
silk dress, for the purpose of ironing it. The article 
adheres to her hand, winding all around it, so 
that she finds it very difficult or impossible to 
adjust the article so as to accomplish her object. 
We state a case which actually occurred in our 
own family, some years since. Another indi- 
vidual adjusts the same article without any diffi- 
culty, no such attraction appearing between her 
hands and the object referred to. In the case of 
the first individual, this force happened to be, at 
the time, developed in such relations between her 
hands and the object, the dress, as to occasion 
the singular phenomena under consideration. Such 
facts, which are of almost every-day occurrence in 
the world around us, render manifest the exist- 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 101 

ence, in the human organism, and in external nature, 
of the force of which we are speaking, and when 
wisely considered, prepare us to look with scientific 
scrutiny, and with less wonder, incredulity, and 
scepticism, upon authentic cases in which this same 
power is developed in the organism of individuals 
to such a degree as to produce the phenomena which 
astonish mankind. To a few of these cases, all 
of which, we believe, have all the marks of credi- 
bility that we can, with any show of reason, demand, 
very special attention is now invited. 

The first case that we adduce is that of Angelique 
Cottin, of which we have two w r ell-authenticatei ac- 
counts, one of w r hich is given by Catherine Crowe, 
in the " Night-side of Nature," and the other in 
the " Courier des Etats Unis," of Paris. Both of 
these accounts are combined in the following extract 
from u Rogers' Philosophy of Mysterious Rappings," 
to which we are indebted for other important facts 
hereafter to be cited. 

" Angelique Cottin was a native of La Perriere, 
aged fourteen, when, on the 15th of January, 1846, 
at eight o'clock in the evening, w T hile weaving silk 
gloves at an oaken frame, in company with other 
girls, the frame began to jerk, and they could not 
by any efforts keep it steady. It seemed as if it 
were alive ; and, becoming alarmed, they called in 
the neighbours, who would not believe them, but 



102 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



desired them to sit down and go on with their 
work. Being timid, they went one by one, and 
the frame remained still till Angelique approached, 
when it recommenced its movements, while she was 
also attracted by the frame. Thinking she was 
bewitched or possessed, her parents took her to 
the presbytery, that the spirit might be exorcised. 
The curate, however, being a sensible man, refused 
to do it, but set himself, on the contrary, to observe 
the phenomenon ; and, being perfectly satisfied of 
the fact, he bade them take her to a physician. 

"Meanwhile, the intensity of the influence, what- 
ever it was, augmented ; not only articles made of 
oak, but all sorts of things, were acted upon by it, 
and reacted upon her ; while persons who were 
near her, even without contact, frequently felt 
sudden shocks. The effects, which were dimin- 
ished when she was on a carpet or a waxed cloth, 
were most remarkable when she was on the bare 
earth. They sometimes entirely ceased for three 
days, and then recommenced. Metals were not 
affected. Anything touching her apron or dress 
would fly off, although a person held it ; and 
Monsieur Herbert, while seated on a heavy tub 
or trough, was raised up with it. In short, the 
only place she could repose on was a stone covered 
with cork ; they also kept her still by isolating 
her. When she was fatigued, the effects diminished. 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 103 

A needle, suspended horizontally, oscillated rapidly 
with the motion of her arm, without contact ; or 
remained fixed while deviating from the magnetic 
direction. Great numbers of enlightened medical 
and scientific men witnessed these phenomena, and 
investigated them with every precaution to prevent 
imposition. She w r as often hurt by the violent 
involuntary movements she was thrown into, and 
was evidently afflicted by chorea,"* or St. Vitus' 
dance. 

The French paper mentions the circumstance that, 
while Angelique was at work in the factory, " the 
cylinder which was turning was suddenly thrown at 
a considerable distance without any visible cause ; 
that this was repeated several times ; that all the 
young girls in the factory, terrified, fled from the 
factory, ran to the curate to have him exorcise the 
young girl, believing she had a devil." After the 
priest had consigned her to the physician's care, 
the Courier des Etats Unis goes on to say : " The 
physician, with the father and mother, brought 
Angelique to Paris. M. Arago received her, and 
took her to the observatory, and in the presence 
of MM. Laugier and Goujon made the following 
observations, which were reported to the Paris 
Academy of Sciences. 

"I. It is the left side of the body which appears 
* See " Night-side of Nature." 



104 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

to acquire this sometimes attractive, but more 
frequently repulsive, property. A sheet of paper, 
a pen, or any other light body, being placed upon a 
table, if the young girl approaches her left hand, 
even before she touches it, the object is driven 
to a distance, as by a gust of wind. The table 
itself is thrown the moment it is touched by her 
hand, or even by a thread which she may hold in 
it. 

" 2. This causes instantaneously a strong com- 
motion in her side, which draws her towards the 
table ; but it is in the region of the pelvis that 
this singular repulsive force appears to concentrate 
itself. 

" 3. As had been observed the first day, if she 
attempted to sit, the seat was thrown far from her, 
with such force that any person occupying it was 
carried away with it. 

" 4. One day a chest, upon which three men were 
seated, was moved in the same manner. Another 
day, although the chair was held by two very 
strong men, it was broken between their hands. 

"5. These phenomena are not produced in a 
continued manner. They manifest themselves in a 
greater or less degree, and from time to time 
during the day ; but they show themselves in 
their intensity in the evening, from seven to nine 
o'clock. 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 105 

"6. Then the girl is obliged to continue standing, 
and is in great agitation. 

"7. She can touch no object without breaking it 
or throwing it upon the ground. 

" 8. All the articles of furniture which her garments 
touch are displaced and overthrown. 

" 9. At that moment many persons have felt, by 
coming in contact with her, a true electrical shock. 

"10. During the entire duration of the paroxysms, 
the left side of the body is warmer than the right 
side. 

"11. It is affected by jerks, unusual movements, 
and a kind of trembling, which seems to communicate 
itself to the hand which touches it. 

" 12. This young person presents, moreover, a pecu- 
liar sensibility to the action of the magnet. 

"When she approaches the north pole of the 
magnet she feels a violent shock, while the south 
pole produces no effect ; so that if the experimenter 
changes the poles, but without her knowledge, she 
always discovers it by the difference of sensations 
which she experiences. 

"13. M. Arago wished to see if the approach of 
this young girl would cause a deviation of the needle 
of the compass. The diviation which had been fore- 
told was not produced. The general health of 
Angelique Cottin is very good. The extraordinary 
movements, however, and the paroxysms observed 



106 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

every evening, resemble what one observes in some 
nervous maladies. 

" The great fact demonstrated in this case, is, 
cc That, under peculiar conditions, the human organ- 
ism gives forth a physical power which, without visible 
instruments, lifts heavy bodies, attracts or repels them, 
according to a law of polarity, — overturns them, and 
produces the phenomena of sound." 

The case which we next cite is so well authenti- 
cated, as to remove all reasonable doubt, to say the 
least, of its actual occurrence. The facts occurred in 
the family of Mr. Joseph Barron, of Woodbridge, 
New Jersey, in the year 1834. We give the account 
as published, at the time, in the Newark Daily 
Advertiser. 

" The first sounds were those of a loud thumping, 
apparently against the side of a house, which com- 
menced one evening when the family had retired, and 
continued at short intervals until daylight, when it 
ceased. 

" The next evening it commenced at nightfall, when 
it was ascertained to be mysteriously connected with 
the movements of a servant girl in the family, — a 
white girl, about fourteen years of age. While 
passing a window on the stairs, for example, a 
sudden jar, accompanied with an explosive sound, 
broke a pane of glass, the girl at the same time being 
seized with a violent spasm. This, of course, very 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed, ioj 

much alarmed her ; and the physician, Dr. Drake, 
was sent for, came, and bled her. The bleeding, 
however, produced no apparent effect. The noise 
still continued, as before, at intervals, wherever the 
girl went, each sound producing more or less of a 
spasm ; and the physician, with all the family, re- 
mained up during the night. At daylight the thump- 
ing ceased again. In the evening the same thing was 
repeated, commencing a little earlier than before ; 
and so every evening since, continuing each night 
until morning, and commencing each night a little 
earlier than before, until yesterday, when the thump- 
ing began about twelve o'clock at noon. The cir- 
cumstances were soon generally spread through the 
neighbourhood, and have produced so much excite- 
ment that the house has been filled and surrounded 
from sunrise to sunset for nearly a week. Every 
imaginable means have been resorted to, in order to 
unravel the phenomenon. At o ne time the girl would 
be removed from one apartment to another, but 
without effect. Wherever she was placed, at certain 
intervals the thumping noise would be heard in the 
room. She was taken to a neighbouring house. The 
same result followed. When carried out of doors, 
however, no noise is heard. Dr. Drake, who has 
been constant in his attendance during the whole 
period, occasionally aided by oth er scientific observers, 
was with us last evening for two hours, when we were 



108 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

politely allowed a variety of experiments with the 
girl, in addition to those heretofore tried, to satisfy 
ourselves that there is no imposition in the case, 
and, if possible, to discover the secret agent of the 
mystery. The girl was in an upper room, with a part 
of the family, when we reached the house. The 
noise then resembled that which would be produced 
by a person violently ! thumping the upper floor with 
the head of an axe five or six times in succession, 
jarring the house, ceasing a few minutes and then 
resuming as before. We were soon introduced into 
the apartment, and permitted to observe for ourselves. 
The girl appeared to be in perfect health, cheerful 
and free from the spasms felt at first, and entirely 
relieved from everything like the fear or apprehension 
which she manifested) for some days. The invisible 
noise, however, continued to occur as before, though 
'somewhat diminished in frequency, while we were 
in the room. In ordfer to ascertain more satisfac- 
torily that she did nojt produce it voluntarily, among 
other experiments w<b placed her on a chair on a 
blanket in the centre tof the room, bandaged the chair 
with a cloth, fastening her feet on the front round, 
and confining her h&nds together on her lap. No 
change, however, was produced. The thumping con- 
tinued as before, ex.cept that it was not quite so 
loud ; the noise resembling that which would be pro- 
duced by stamping am the floor with a heavy heel ; 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed, iog 



yet she did not move a limb or muscle, that we could 
discover. She remained in this position long enough 
to satisfy all in the room that the girl exercised, 
voluntarily, no sort of agency in producing the noise. 
It was observed that the noise became greater the 
farther she was removed from any other person. 
We placed her in the doorway of a closet in the 
room, the door being ajar to allow her to stand in 
the passage. In less than one minute the door flew 
open as if violently struck with a mallet, accompanied 
by precisely such a noise as such a thump would 
produce. This was repeated several times, with the 
same effect. In short, in whatever position she was 
placed, whether in or out of the room, similar results, 
varied a little perhaps by circumstances, were pro- 
duced. There is certainly no deception in the 
case. . . . The noise was heard at least one hundred 
yards from the house." 

In this case also, as well as in those previously 
cited, there is no ground for the least suspicion of 
the action of any other than an exclusively physical 
cause. 

"In the year 1835, a suit was brought before the 
sheriff of Edinburgh, Scotland, for the recovery of 
damages suffered in a certain chouse owned by Mr. 
Webster. Captain Molesworth was the defendant at 
the trial.* The following facts were developed : Mr. 

* See " Night-side of Nature," p. 400. 



no Phenomena of Spiritualism 

Molesworth had seriously damaged the house, both 
as to substance and reputation, 

" i. By sundry holes which he cut in the walls, 
tearing up of the floors, etc., to discover the cause 
of certain noises which tormented himself and 
family. 

" 2. By the bad name he had given the house, 
stating that it was haunted. Witnesses for the de- 
fendant were sheriffs officers, justices of the peace, 
and officers of the regiment quartered near by ; all 
of whom had been at the said house sundry times 
to aid Captain M. detect the invisible cause of so 
much disturbance." 

The important facts bearing upon our subject 
were the following : — 

" i. The disturbance consisted in certain noises, 
such as knockings, pounding, scratching sounds, 
rustlings in different parts of a particular room, — 
sometimes, however, in other parts of the house. 

" 2. Certain boards of the floor would seem to be 
at times most infected with the noises. Then certain 
points in the walls (at! which Mr. M. would discharge 
his gun, or cut into with an axe, all to no purpose, 
however). ) 

" 3. The bed when/on a young girl, aged thirteen 
years, had been confined by disease, would very often 
be raised above the tloor, as if a sudden force was 
applied beneath it ; which would greatly alarm her 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 1 1 1 

and the whole family, and cause the greatest per- 
plexity, 

"4. This force was soon discovered to be in some 
strange way connected with this invalid. 

" 5. The concussions which it often produced on 
the walls would cause them visibly to tremble. 

" 6. Wherever the young invalid was moved, this 
force accompanied her." 

How perfectly similar the above occurrences are 
to those which happened in the family of Rev. Dr. 
Phelps,* of Stamford, Ct, occurrences which con- 
sisted of rapping sounds, moving of tables, etc., and 
which commenced March 10, 1850. Of these singu- 
lar events the Doctor makes, among many others, the 
following statements :— 

" The phenomena consisted in the moving of 
articles of furniture in a manner that could not be 
accounted for. Knives, forks, s.poons, nails, blocks of 
wood, etc., were thrown in different directions about 
the house. They were seen to move from places and 
in directions which made it certain that no visible 
power existed by which the motion could be pro- 
duced. For days and weeks together, I watched 
these strange movements with all the care and 
caution and close attention which I could bestow, 
I witnessed them hundreds aud hundreds of times, 

* Dr. Phelps, we would say, is personally well known to us, and 
related to us the leading facts, as they occurred in his house, 



112 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



and I know that in hundreds of instances they took 
place when there was no visible power by which the 
motion could have been produced. Scores of per- 
sons, of the first standing in the community, whose 
education, general intelligence, candour, veracity, and 
sound judgment none will question, were requested 
to witness the phenomena, and, if possible, help us to 
a solution of the mystery. But as yet no solution 
has been obtained. The idea that the whole was a 
' trick of the children/ — an idea which some of the 
papers have endeavoured, with great zeal, to promul- 
gate, — is to everyone! who is acquainted with the 
facts as stupid as it is false and injurious. The state- 
ment, too, which some! of the papers have reiterated 
so often, that i the mystery was found out,' is, I 
regret to say, untrue. With the most thorough 
investigation which I Have been able to bestow upon 
it, aided by gentlemejn of the best talents, intelli- 
gence, and sound judgment, in this and in many 
neighbouring towns, I the cause of these strange 
phenomena remains yejt undiscovered ." 

A writer in the Neip Haven Journal and Courier 
relates the following fjacts, of which he was an eye- 
witness. J 

" While we were the^re," says he, " the contents of 
the pantry were emptied into the kitchen, and bags 
of salt, tin ware, and! heavier culinary articles, were 
thrown in a promiscuous heap upon the floor, with a 



\ 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 1 1 3 

loud and startling noise. Loaves of delicious cake 
were scattered about the house. The large knocker 
of the outside door would thunder its fearful tones 
through the loud-resounding hall, unmindful of the 
vain but rigid scrutiny to which it was subjected 
by incredulous and curious men. Chairs would de- 
liberately move across the room, unimpelled by 
any visible agency. Heavy marble-top tables would 
poise themselves upon two legs, and then fall with 
their contents to the floor, no human being within six 
feet of them." 

According to the statements of Dr. Phelps, the 
following are some of the circumstances attending 
these manifestations : — " r. They were most violent 
when the whole family were together," "less frequent 
and feebler when but one of the two children (belong- 
ing to Mrs. Phelps, she being the Doctor's second 
wife) were in the house," and " more frequent in con- 
nexion with a lad (one of the above children) of 
about eleven" years of age. " 2. These children had 
been frequently mesmerized into the trance and 
clairvoyant state by their father," and one was sub- 
ject to "spontaneous trance, and was found, at one 
time, in the barn, in a cataleptic state." 3. "When 
these children, with their mother, removed to Penn- 
sylvania/the phenomena did not follow them." No 
facts can more clearly indicate the presence and 
action of an invisible, but purely physical, cause — a 

8 



1 1 4 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



cause connected with the organism of particular 
individuals — than these. 

The following letter, which has been kindly fur- 
nished us by Rev. E. N. Kirk, will be read with 
interest, and the facts stated will not be doubted by 
our readers : — 

" Rev. A. Mahan :— 

" Dear Brother, — By your request, I commit 
to paper the following narrative : — 

" In the course of my residence in Albany, as 
pastor of the Fourth Presbyterian Church, some- 
where about the year 1834 (I have no means at 
present of recalling the precise year), I was witness 
to phenomena at that time totally beyond the 
sphere of all former experience, and, by me, utterly 
inexplicable. 

" I had been preaching three times on a Sunday, 
and was lying on the sofa in my house, at about 
ten o'clock, when a gentleman entered the parlour 
in a highly excited state of mind. He spoke very 
hurriedly, saying, 'A young woman is possessed of 
the devil, and wishes you to come and pray with 
her.' Without waiting for further explanations, I 
hastened to follow him. On entering the house I 
saw a girl of about twenty years of age, lying quietly 
on a large bed, surrounded by a few persons. They 
described her as seeing frightful spirits, who threat- 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed, 115 

ened to carry her off; and their approaches to her 
were always indicated to the spectators by a convul- 
sive action of her whole frame, an earnest entreaty 
to be saved from them, and a peculiarly sudden, 
sharp knocking. I at once suspected some collusion, 
and made as thorough an examination of the 
premises as I could ; but nothing appeared which 
could furnish any explanation of the sounds they 
described. I then treated her as I would any other 
person in sickness calling for the counsel and prayers 
of a clergyman. At about midnight I concluded that 
my presence was no longer needed, and that my 
curiosity was not to be gratified by witnessing any- 
thing marvellous. I accordingly went to the bed and 
leaned upon the high footboard (the bedstead being 
of the French pattern). As I looked earnestly into 
her face, she suddenly started from her reclining pos- 
ture, screaming and staring wildly ; and, at the same 
instant, three distinct, sharp raps, as if made with the 
knuckles of the fist, upon the very board on which I 
was leaning, startled me. I examined if her feet 
were touching the board ; or if any visible connexion 
existed between the board and the floor, except that 
of the bedposts. Nothing of the kind was visible. I 
then requested her friends to lay the bed on the floor 
on the opposite side of the room, and furnish me a 
lamp, that I might go into the room beneath, and 
watch the floor (for the room was directly over the 



1 1 6 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



cellar). After watching there for half an hour, the 
rappings were repeated, but with no visible cause. I 
then left the house. On the next day, as I was 
informed, President Nott, of Union College, went to 
see the girl ; but no knockings occurred after I saw 
her. 

"When this case occurred, I remember a gentle- 
man stating that something similar had been 
witnessed in Poughkeepsie, many years ago, of 
which I now speak, only to put you on the track 
of inquiry, if you wish to accumulate evidence of 
these phenomena having occurred long before the 
present day. 

" Wishing you Divine guidance, and great success 
in rescuing our fellow men from hurtful delusions, 
" I remain,' cordially yours, 

"Edw. N. Kirk. 

'•Boston, June 26, 1855." 

Similar facts occurred in the family of Cotton 
Mather, in the case of some children whom he had 
taken under his care, in consequence of their being 
supposed to have been bewitched. These children 
would repeat the secret thoughts of those who came 
into communication with them. Even when pas- 
sages from the Hebrew or Greek Scriptures were 
read to them, they would give the correct interpreta- 
tion, that is, the meaning which the reader attached 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed, 1 1 7 



to said passages. Where passages were read in the 
Indian language, however — a language of course not 
understood by the reader — the interpretation could 
not be given. Any thought in the inquirer's mind 
was instantly reproduced in that of the child, pre- 
cisely in accordance with what occurs in the mes- 
meric relations. Cases of this kind were commonly 
accompanied with physical manifestations in accord- 
ance with those which we have above noticed. Our 
fathers were as familiar with the rapping sounds, the 
movement of articles of furniture, etc., as we are. 
They, in their ignorance, attributed these manifesta- 
tions to satanic agency. We, in our wisdom, have 
attributed them to the interposition of departed 
spirits. 

However mysterious the facts above cited may 
appear, the following conclusions pertaining tq 
them are too manifest to be denied, to wit : 1. The 
cause of these strange phenomena is exclusively 
mundane and physical. Nothing can be more 
unphilosophical than to attribute such phenomena 
to the interposition of disembodied spirits. 2. This 
power, when developed in the human system in con- 
nexion with the brain, as its nerve centre, accords in 
its action, in certain respects, with the mental states 
of such individuals, and is determined in its action 
by such states. 3. When other individuals come 
into certain relations to such persons, the mental 



1 1 8 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



states of the former are, in many instances, by means 
of this force, reproduced in the minds of the latter, 
and this precisely in accordance with what occurs 
in the mesmeric relations. 4. Individuals under the 
influence of this same force often present all the 
peculiar perceptions and other phenomena which 
characterize what is called independent clairvoyance. 
They have perceptions by other means than the organs 
of sense, and of objects located totally beyond the 
reach of the senses. 5. With the terrible mental 
and physical effects induced in such individuals by 
this force, it operates in their physical systems as a 
very strong polar force, attracting and repelling other 
bodies in accordance with the peculiar phenomena of 
electricity and magnetism. 6. Other bodies in con- 
tact with such persons, or in their immediate vicinity, 
often become charged with the same force, so as to 
be strongly attracted towards, or repelled from, each 
other. The force which produces these effects is called 
the Odylic, or Odic, and sometimes the Psychic, Force. 
To us, the name is of no account. The reality and 
character of the force itself is what we are concerned 
about. Its properties have been most carefully in- 
vestigated by such philosophers as Richenbach, 
Metteuccyi, Thelorier, Lafontaine, and Ashburner, 
in Europe, and the validity of their experiments 
has been indorsed by the highest authorities of both 
continents. 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed, ug 

This force, we would now remark, may be, and is 
everywhere being, developed by means voluntarily 
resorted to by individuals for the purpose of ascer- 
taining its character. Of cases of this kind, cases 
which are constantly occurring in all spirit-circles, 
we would invite special attention to the following. 

Physical Manifestations. 

As an example of the physical manifestations, we 
will adduce the following case, which is so well 
attested as to remove from every candid mind all 
rational doubt in regard to its actual occurrence. 
Among the signers of this document, which originally 
appeared in the Springfield Republican, we have the 
names of such men as Professor Wells of the Cam- 
bridge Laboratory, and other individuals of such 
character for intelligence and integrity as to de- 
mand the credence of the public. The document 
is entitled, " The modern wonder — a manifesto!' 

" The undersigned, from a sense of justice to the 
parties referred to, very cordially bear testimony to 
the occurrence of the following facts, which we 
severally witnessed at the house of Rufus Elmer, 
in Springfield, on the evening of the fifth of April : — 

u i. The table was moved in every possible direc- 
tion, and with great force, when we could not per- 
ceive any cause of motion. 

"2. It (the table) was forced against each one of 



120 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

us so powerfully as to remove us from our positions, 
together with the chairs we occupied, — in all, several 
feet. 

" 3. Mr. Wells and Mr. Edwards took hold of the 
table in such a manner as to exert their strength to 
the best advantage ; but found the invisible power, 
exercised in the opposite direction, to be quite equal 
to their utmost efforts. 

u 4. In two instances, at least, while the hands of 
all the members of the circle were placed on the top 
of the table, and while no visible power was em- 
ployed to raise the table, or otherwise move it from 
its position, it was seen to rise clear of the floor, and to 
float in the atmosphere for several seconds, as if sus- 
tained by a denser medium than the air. 

"5. Mr. Wells seated himself on the table, which 
was rocked to and fro with great violence ; and at 
length it poised itself on two legs, and remained in 
this position for some thirty seconds, when 110 other 
person was in contact with the table. 

" 6. Three persons, Messrs. Wells, Bliss, and 
Edwards, assumed positions on the table at the 
same time, and while thus seated, the table was 
moved in various directions. 

" 7. Occasionally we were made conscious of the 
occurrence of a powerful shock, which produced a 
vibratory motion of the floor of the apartment. It 
seemed like the motion occasioned by distant 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. I z I 

thunder, or the firing of ordnance far away, — 
causing the tables, chairs, and other inanimate 
objects, and all of us, to tremble in such a manner 
that the effect was both seen and felt. 

" 8. In the whole exhibition, which was far more 
diversified than the foregoing specification would in- 
dicate, we were constrained to admit that there was 
an almost constant manifestation of some intelligence 
which seemed, at least, to be independent of the circle. 

a g. In conclusion, we may observe that D. D. 
Hume, the medium, frequently urged us to hold his 
hands and feet. During these occurrences the room 
was well lighted, the lamp was frequently placed on 
and under the table, and every possible opportunity 
was afforded us for the closest inspection, and we 
submit this one emphatic declaration : We know that 
we are not imposed tipon nor deceived. 

David A. Wells, Wm. Bryant, 
B. K. Bliss, Wm. Edwards." 

To present the whole subject at one view, we 
now adduce the following extract from " Rogers' 
Philosophy of the Mysterious Rappings." The au- 
thority by which the occurrence of the facts stated 
is verified, is of such a character as to place those 
facts out of the circle of rational doubt. 

" The following, also, were developed at the house 
of Rev. Dr. Griswold, New York. Among the 



122 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



persons present were Mr. J. F. Cooper, George 
Bancroft, Rev. Dr. Haws, Dr. J. W. Francis, Dr. 
Marcy, Mr. N. P. Willis, William Bryant, Mr. 
Bigelow of the Evening Post, Mr. R. B. Kimball, 
Mr. EL Tuckerman, and General Lyman. 

" The mediums present were the members of the 
Fox family. 

" Only Mr. Cooper, Dr. Francis, and Mr. Tucker- 
man, seemed to come into close rapport with the 
psychological and nerve-centres of the mediums. 
The others, according to the account, could develop 
few or no intelligent characteristics, and could obtain 
a development of the physical force alone ; — thus 
giving us a plain hint of the distinction we are to 
observe between the physical phenomena and the 
psychological characteristics which frequently accom- 
pany them. 

"The physical force stands alone as a physical 
force. It bears no characteristics in its action but 
that of itself, unless some other is made to impress 
its characteristics upon it, as the intelligent will do 
in the movement of the arm. But the physical 
force may move the arm without intelligence, as in 
spasms, etc. 

" The following peculiar physical phenomena were 
developed during the evening : — 

" i One little peculiarity, hitherto unremarked,* 

* Taken from Willis' Home Journal. 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 123 

came to our notice. The questioner's seat (to give 
him access to paper and pencil) was on one side of 
the table ; and, chancing to occupy the place between 
him and the ladies (mediums), we [Mr. Willis] had 
accidentally thrown our arm over the back of his 
chair. Whenever the knockings occurred, we 
observed that his chair was shaken, though our 
own intermediate chair and the two standing 
immediately behind were unmoved. We called 
attention to it, and it was corroborated by the other 
gentlemen. 

" ' With such heavy weight in the chair as Mr. 
Cooper's or Dr. Francis', it would have taken a blow 
with a heavy hammer to have produced so much 
vibration.' The table was not moved, though 
requested. 

" An experiment was tried as to what would be 
the effect with one of the ladies alone, or with two 
without the third, or with a gentleman and one or 
two of the ladies. The strongest knockings were 
on the floor when the widow and her two sisters 
stood anywhere together. With two of them the 
knockings were fainter. ' We placed ourself between 
the widow and one of the young ladies/ says Mr. 
Willis, ' and no sounds were produced as a conse- 
quence. With one of the mediums alone, there were 
no phenomena/ 

" These peculiar characteristics of the conditions 



124 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

are worthy of careful consideration. We have found 
several cases where no decided physical phenomena 
could be evolved without the presence of two per- 
sons, both in a palpable abnormal state ; and we shall 
give one case, in a future chapter, where three clair- 
voyants were required. 

" All such conditions clearly indicate the physical 
agency to belong to the physical organism. These 
characteristics will be considered in a more fitting 
place. We would simply direct attention to them 
here. The most important phenomena of this cha- 
racter, however, have not been sufficiently observed 
to develop their laws. 

" But to return. An experiment was tried of 
another kind, in this circle at Dr. Griswold's. Three 
gentlemen placed themselves on the outside of the 
door, and three on the inside, and watched it closely, 
when suddenly it was knocked with great violence, 
without any visible instrument. ' We witnessed this/ 
says Mr. Willis, ' with one hand upon the panels ; 
and what can it be but the exercise of a power 
beyond anything of which we have hitherto known 
the laws ? That it is subject to human control,' he 
continues, ' seems probable, for it acts at present in 
a certain obedience to human orders [not of the 
medium, however], and is most obedient to those 
who have used it longest.' 

" Mr. Ripley, of the Tribune, in speaking of the 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 125 

same sitting says : c The ladies were at such a 
distance from the door as to lend no countenance 
to the idea that the sounds were produced by any 
direct communication with them. . . . Other sounds 
were made which caused sensible vibrations of the 
sofa, and apparently coming from a thick hearth-rug 
before the fireplace, as well as from other quarters 
of the room.' " 

Rev. H. Snow, in his work entitled " Spirit 'Inter- 
course/' gives an apparently w r ell-authenticated case, 
in which a medium was himself " raised entirely from 
the floor, and held in a suspended position by the 
same kind of invisible power." For ourselves, we 
have no disposition to question such a statement, 
knowing, as we do, that cases perfectly similar and 
analogous are attested by evidence which we are 
compelled to regard as valid. 

That musical instruments have given forth musical 
sounds, in these circles, when no persons were touch- 
ing such instruments, we also freely admit, and admit 
for the reason that the facts of the case are affirmed 
by authority which we cannot, with the conscious- 
ness of moral integrity, call in question. A very 
intelligent Christian lady, an utter disbeliever in 
Spiritualism, for example, told us that in her 
presence a guitar was once placed in the middle of 
the room ; that when no one was within several feet 
of it, musical sounds proceeded from it ; that when 



126 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

she extended her hand toward it, it was instantly 
raised up and attracted to her hand, just as the 
appropriate objects are drawn towards the magnet 
when it is placed near them ; and that when she 
laid hold of the instrument, it was, by a force which 
she could not control, wrested from her hand, just as 
objects charged with electricity are wrested from our 
hands when we grasp them. Facts affirmed by such 
testimony we regard ourselves as bound to admit. 

Some time prior to the year 1853, Count Agenor 
De Gasparin organized a circle in Paris for the spe- 
cific purpose of investigating (by experiments about 
which there could be no mistake) the phenomena 
under consideration. A careful record of their ex- 
periments after the 20th of September of the year re- 
ferred to, was kept, and was afterwards published, with 
discussions of the facts developed, in two volumes. 
In their varied sessions, to which intelligent visitants 
had free access, all the physical manifestations known 
to Spiritualism, together with most of the others, 
were fully developed. We venture to affirm, that no 
candid mind can read the facts contained in the work 
under consideration, without a full conviction that 
the Odylic or Psychic force in nature is a verified 
truth in science. Every member of this circle, we 
must bear in mind, utterly repudiated the deductions 
of s'piritualists. The object of the author in pub- 
lishing his work, which is entitled " Science against 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 127 

Modern Spiritualism/' is to disprove the doctrines of 
that system. " Thus the fact," he says, " is esta- 
blished. Multiplied experiments, various irresistible 
proofs, mutually supporting each other, give to fluid 
action an entire certainty." . . . "It is not 
our fault if the results have been more and more 
conclusive, if they have reciprocally confirmed 
each other, if they have finally taken on the form, 
and acquired the character, of perfect evidence. 
To study, to compare, to begin, and begin again, to 
exclude, in short, everything that remained in any 
degree contestable — this was our duty. We have 
tried not to fail therein. I affirm nothing here that 
I have not verified several times ; I have scrupu- 
lously abstained from admitting that which appears 
to me probable, not certain — that w r hich has often, 
but not always, succeeded. y 

What Gasparin and the advocates of the mundane 
theory deny, is, not the material facts presented by 
spiritualists, — these we admit and affirm, — but the 
deductions they base upon these facts. 

We now give an extract from a report of a sub- 
committee of a committee of the London Dialectical 
Society, a committee of learned men appointed to 
investigate and report upon these phenomena : — " Of 
the members of your sub-committee about four-fifths 
entered upon the investigation wholly sceptical as to 
the reality of the alleged phenomena, firmly believ- 



128 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



ing them to be the result of imposture, or delusion, or 
of involuntary muscular action. It was only by irre- 
sistible evidence, under conditions that precluded the 
possibility of either of these solutions, and after trial 
and test many times repeated, that the most sceptical 
of your sub-committee were slowly and reluctantly 
convinced that the phenomena exhibited in the course 
of their experiments were veritable facts. 

"The result of their long-continued and carefully- 
conducted experiments, after trial by every detective 
test they could devise, has been to establish con- 
clusively : — 

" First : That under certain bodily or mental con- 
ditions of one or more of the persons present, a force 
is exhibited sufficient to set in motion heavy sub- 
stances, without the employment of any muscular 
force, without contact or material connexion of any 
kind between such substances and the body of any 
person present. 

" Second : That this force can cause sounds to pro- 
ceed, distinctly audible to all present, from solid sub- 
stances not in contact with, nor having any visible 
connexion with, the body of any present ; which 
sounds are proved to proceed from substances by 
the vibrations which are distinctly felt when they 
are touched. 

" Third : That this force is frequently directed by 
intelligence. 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 129 

"At thirty-four out of forty meetings of your com- 
mittee some of these phenomena occurred, 

"A description of one experiment, and the manner 
of conducting it, will best show the care and caution 
with which your committee have pursued their in- 
vestigations. 

" So long as there was contact, or even the possi- 
bility of contact by the hands or feet, or even by the 
clothes, of any person present in the room, with the 
substance moved or sounded, there could be no per- 
fect assurance that the motions and sounds were not 
produced by the person so in contact. The following- 
experiment was therefore tried : — 

"On one occasion, when eleven members of your 
sub-committee had been sitting round one of the 
dining-tables above described, for forty minutes, and 
various motions and sounds had occurred, they, by 
way of test, turned the backs of their chairs to the 
table, at about nine inches from it. They all knell 
upon their chairs, placing their arms upon the back- 
thereof. In this position, their feet were of course 
turned away from the table, and by no possibility 
could be placed under it, or touch the floor. The 
hands of each person were extended over the table 
at about four inches from the surface. Contact, there- 
fore, with any part of the table could not take place 
without detection. 

" In less than a minute the table, untouched, moved 



130 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

four times ; at first about five inches to one side, then 
about twelve inches to the opposite side, and then, in 
like manner, four inches and six inches respectively. 

" The hands of all present were next placed on the 
backs of the chairs, and about a foot from the table, 
which again moved, as before, five times, over spaces 
varying from four to six inches. Then all the chairs 
were removed twelve inches from the table, and each 
person knelt on his chair as before, this time, however, 
folding his hands behind his back, his body being thus 
about eighteen inches from the table, and having 
the back of the chair between him and the table. 
The table again moved four times, in various di- 
rections. 

"The table was then carefully examined, turned 
upside down and taken to pieces, but nothing was 
discovered to account for the phenomena. The ex- 
periment was conducted throughout in the full light 
of gas above the table." 

As the reader progresses in this treatise, he will 
meet with similar experiments made in the city of 
Boston and other parts of the United States — experi- 
ments made by men of the highest intelligence and 
prudence, men who have no faith in Spiritualism, and 
whose only motive is to know facts as they are. If 
anything can be discovered by experiment, and veri- 
fied by testimony, the existence of the Odylic, Odic, 
or Psychic Force in nature, a force possessed of the 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 1 3 1 

properties attributed to it, is a verified truth of 
science. 



THE ODlMc FORCE IDENTICAL WITH THAT WHICH 



IS THE IMMEDIATE CAUSE OF THE SPIRIT- 
MANIFESTATIONS. 

We now enter upon a very important department 
of our investigations. Spiritualists themselves admit, 
as we have already said, that spirits do not cause 
these manifestations directly, but mediately, that is, 
through the instrumentality of a certain force of some 
kind pre-existing in nature, a force which they have 
learned to control. The agency of the spirits is 
manifest, if at all, not in the existence or properties 
of this force, but in the direction of its action. The 
mere fact that sounds are heard and objects moved 
in these circles, no one has the folly to adduce as 
proof of an ab extra spirit-interposition of any kind. 
Such interposition, on the other hand, is inferred from 
the accordance of these phenomena with intelligence, 
and other considerations of a kindred nature. This 
force, also, spiritualists, as well as others, admit to be 
exclusively physical in its nature. So far, no differ- 
ence of opinion, as far as our knowledge extends, 
exists between them and their opponents. The ques- 
tion which here arises, and to which a specific answer 
is here demanded, is, What is the nature of this mun- 




1 3 2 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

dane, physical force which is the immediate cause of 
these so-called spirit-manifestations ? We answer, It 
is identical with the Odylic Force, which we have above 
developed. This we argue from the following con- 
siderations : — 

i. The relation of these causes to certain specific 
localities is a very decisive proof, in connexion with 
other facts, of their absolute identity. In Boston, for 
example, the centre of the phenomena of witchcraft, 
and where the odylic phenomena have ever mani- 
fested themselves, mediums were developed as soon 
as the circles were constituted. In Philadelphia, on 
the other hand, where the odylic phenomena had 
hardly, if ever, appeared, months elapsed before any 
of the so-called spirit-manifestations appeared, though 
the most careful and persevering efforts were made 
to induce them. It is also known, and published 
by spiritualists themselves, that individuals who were 
good mediums in one locality have utterly lost the 
power by simple change of locality. The origin of 
" the Rochester Rappings " should not be overlooked 
in this connexion. All agree that these phenomena 
first made their appearance in a certain house occu- 
pied by Mr. Michael Weekman, of the village of 
Hydesville, in the town of Arcadia, Wayne county, 
New York. Of the facts which occurred when he 
was a resident of the house, we have the following 
account. 



Scientifically Explai?ied and Exposed. 133 

" Mr. W. resided in this house for about eighteen 
months, and left sometime in the year 1847.* Mr. 
Weekman makes the statement in substance as fol- 
lows : That one evening, about the time of retiring, 
he heard a rapping on the outside door, and, what 
was rather unusual for him, instead of familiarly bid- 
ding them 'come in,' stepped to the door and opened 
it. He had no doubt of finding some one who wished 
to come in, but, to his surprise, found no one there. 
He went back and proceeded to undress, when, just 
before getting into bed, he heard another rap at the 
door, loud and distinct. He stepped to the door 
quickly and opened it, but, as before, found no one 
there. He stepped out and looked around, supposing 
that some one was imposing upon him. He could 
discover no one, and went back into the house. 
After a short time he heard the rapping again, and he 
stepped (it being often repeated) and held on to the 
latch, so that he might ascertain if anyone had taken 
that means to annoy him. The rapping was repeated, 
the door opened instantly, but no one was to be seen ! 
He states that he could feel the jar of the door very 
plainly when the rapping was heard. As he opened 
the door, he sprang out and went around the house, 
but no one was in sight. His family were fearful to 
have him go out, lest some one intended to harm him. 

* See " History of the Mysterious Communications with Spirits," 
Capron and Barron, p. 10. 



134 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

It always remained a mystery to him, and finally, 
as the rapping did not at that time continue, passed 
from his mind, except when something of the same 
nature occurred to revive it." 

The Weekman family at length left the house, and 
in December, 1847, the Fox family entered it. In 
the following March, the mysterious sounds were 
heard again. " It seemed," they say, " to be in one 
of the bedrooms, and sounded to them as though 
some one was knocking on the floor, moving chairs, 
etc. Four or five members of the family were at 
home, and they all got up to ascertain the cause of 
the noise. Every part of the house was searched, yet 
nothing could be discovered. A perceptible jar was 
felt by putting the hand on the bedsteads and chairs ; 
a jar was also experienced while standing on the floor. 
The noise was continued that night as long as any- 
one was awake in the house. The following evening 
it was heard as before, and on the evening of the 
31st of March the neighbours were called in for the 
first time." 

The following is Mrs. Fox's statement of these 
strange occurrences : — 

" On Friday night we concluded to go to bed early, 
and not let it disturb us ; if it came, we thought we 
would not mind it, but try and get a good nights 
rest. My husband was here on all these occasions, 
heard the noise, and helped search. It was very early 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 135 



when we went to bed on this night, — hardly dark. 
We went to bed early because we had been broken so 
much of our rest that I was almost sick. 

" My husband had not gone to bed when we first 
heard the noise on this evening. I had just lain down. 
It commenced as usual. I knew it from all other 
noises I had ever heard in the house. The girls, who 
slept in the other bed in the room, heard the noise, 
and tried to make a similar noise by snapping their 
fingers. The youngest girl is about twelve years old • 
she is the one who made her hand go. As fast as she 
made the noise with her hands or fingers, the sound 
was followed up in the room. It did not sound any 
different at that time, only it made the same number 
of noises that the girl did. When she stopped, the 
sound itself stopped for a short time. 

" The other girl, who is in her fifteenth year, then 
spoke in sport, and said, f Xow do just as I do. 
Count one. two, three, four/ etc., striking one hand 
in the other at the same time. The blows which 
she made were repeated as before. It appeared to 
answer her by repeating every blow that she made. 
She only did so once. She then began to be startled ; 
and then I spoke, and said to the noise, ' Count ten/ 
and it made ten strokes or noises. Then I asked the 
ages of my different children successively, and it gave 
a number of raps corresponding to the ages of my 
children. 



136 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



" I then asked if it was a human being that was 
making the noise; and, if it was, to manifest it by the 
same noise. There was no noise. I then asked if it 
was a spirit ; and, if it was, to manifest it by two 
sounds. I heard two sounds as soon as the words 
were spoken." * 

" These 6 manifestations ' caused great excitement 
in the village, and many persons called at the house 
of Mr. Fox to hear the noises. Many questions were 
asked and answered by raps correctly. Sounds were 
only made when an affirmative answer was the correct 
one to a question, or when numbers were to be desig- 
nated. When the alphabet was called over, there 
was rapping at particular letters.f Soon the experi- 
ment was carried still further, and, by request, entire 
names and sentences of considerable length were 
spelled out. A signal for the alphabet was soon 
understood to be five raps in quick succession. 

" In a few months after the manifestations were 
first heard by the Fox family, several of the members 
removed from Hydesville to Rochester, and resided 
with a married sister, Mrs. Fish. The sounds were 
here heard in the presence of Margaretta Fox and 
Mrs. Fish. They were talked about, and elicited 
general attention, — got into the newspapers, and were 

* See Account by D. M. Dewey, Rochester, N. Y. Also, History 
of the same, by Capron and Barron, p. 14. 

t See Account by E. E. Lewis, Canandaigua, N. Y. 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 137 

immediately speculated upon in all parts of the Union. 
The third town in which the raps were heard was 
Auburn, N. Y. Catharine, the youngest daughter of 
Mr. Fox, visited this place, and the sounds were 
made at the houses she visited. In Rochester the 
raps have not been confined to the Fox family. 
Since the ' manifestations ' in Auburn, they have been 
communicated with in Greece, Monroe county, N. Y., 
in Sennett, Cayuga county, N. Y., in New York city, 
on Long Island, at Troy, N. Y., at Boston and 
Springfield, Mass., and a number of other towns and 
cities." 

Who can doubt that the immediate cause of these 
phenomena was a physical one, a cause developed in 
the physical organisms of those individuals, in conse- 
quence of a residence in that particular locality? 
Equally manifest is the fact that that cause is identi- 
cal with the Odylic Force, as developed in the cases 
above cited. How perfectly do the facts above given 
correspond with those connected with Frederica 
Hauffe and others ; and how manifest is the identity 
of causation in these cases. 

2. The absolute identity of the physical phenomena 
of these two forces, as physical causes, presents, in 
their action upon surrounding objects, the most 
decisive proof of their identity. In both cases the 
rapping sounds have the same relations to the organ- 
ism of individuals. The rapping and other sounds 



138 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

are precisely similar in their nature, and are fre- 
quently attended with the same jarring of surrounding 
objects, and each alike is occasionally attended with 
the same rumbling noises, as of the rolling of distant 
thunder. The same manifestations of an attractive 
and repulsive power between the physical organism 
and surrounding objects, appear in both cases. What 
facts can reveal an identity of causation, if these do 
not ? We might with the same propriety affirm that 
each clap of thunder is occasioned by a new and 
before undeveloped force in nature, and that such 
phenomenon is proof of the fact, as to refer the two 
classes of phenomena under consideration to different 
and opposite causes. 

3. A similar identity of effects upon the physical 
organism, on the one hand, and upon the mental 
powers, on the other, argues, with equal absoluteness, 
the perfect identity of these two causes. " Catalepsy, 
trance, clairvoyance, and various involuntary mus- 
cular, nervous, and mental activity in mediums/' are 
among the effects enumerated by Mr. Ballou as 
accompanying the action of this force in connexion 
with the so-called spirit-manifestations. Precisely 
similar phenomena mark the action of the Odylic 
Force, in all cases like those which we have enu- 
merated. Every mental and physical phenomenon 
which characterizes the manifestations of the one 
power, is equally characteristic of those of the other. 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 139 

Is " speaking, writing, preaching, lecturing, philo- 
sophizing, prophesying," etc., attendant on the action 
of this force, in one instance ? They are equally so in 
the other. The same holds equally true in all other 
instances. We have no right to reason at all from 
phenomena to the nature of the substances to which 
they pertain, or to attempt to identify causes by 
arguing their nature from their peculiar effects if we 
may not infer the identity of the causes under con- 
sideration, from the phenomena which they every- 
where exhibit. 

4. There is a peculiar effect which individuals often 
experience on approaching mediums, on the one 
hand, and those who are under the influence of the 
Odylic Force, on the other — an effect which renders 
the identity of the two forces under consideration 
undeniable. Those who approached Angelique Cottin, 
for example, were often affected with what they 
denominated an electric shock. Spiritualists them- 
selves, in their own writings, often speak of having 
experienced in themselves precisely similar effects 
when approaching mediums ; similar phenomena also 
occurring in the presence of those who are in a mes- 
meric state. It would be a violation of all the laws 
of science not to admit an identity of cause, in the 
presence of effects bearing such undeniable character- 
istics of absolute similarity. 

On this point we need not enlarge, as the proposi- 



140 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

tion under consideration, we may safely assume, will 
not be disputed by intelligent spiritualists anywhere, 
it being, as far as our knowledge extends, admitted 
by them that spirits produce these manifestations, if 
at all, by controlling this very force. 

THE IMMEDIATE CAUSE OF THESE MANIFESTATIONS 
IDENTICAL WITH THAT FROM WHICH RESULT 
ALL THE PHENOMENA OF MESMERISM AND 
CLAIRVOYANCE. 
We now advance to another very important pro- 
position. It is this : The immediate cause of these 
manifestations is identical, not only with the Odylic 
Force, on the one hand, but with that from which the 
phenomena of mesmerism and clairvoyance result, on the 
other. The truth of this proposition is rendered 
undeniably evident from the following facts and con- 
siderations, the most if not all of which are proclaimed 
by spiritualists themselves, in their own writings. 

1. Mesmeric subjects, and those who have become 
clairvoyants through mesmeric influence, have, to a 
very great extent, become mediums, and of all other 
persons most readily become such. This is a fact 
which no one will deny. 

2. Mesmerizing and pathetizing are among the 
common means proclaimed by spiritualists of develop- 
ing mediums. When individuals desire to render 
some persons in their circles mediums, persons who 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 141 

have been accustomed to be pathetized are first put 
into a mesmeric state, and then, as the persons thus 
affected sit with others around the table, they become 
mediums, thus showing that the two states are the 
results of the same force developed in different 
degrees. 

3. But a fact still more decisive of this question is 
this : in these circles, as spiritualists themselves affirm, 
some individuals become mediums, while others, under 
precisely the same influence, not unfrequently become 
clairvoyant. Under the same cause, and in the same 
circumstances, the mesmeric phenomena, on the one 
hand, and the so-called spirit-manifestations, on the 
other, appear, thus indicating that the immediate 
cause of these two classes of phenomena are, in all 
instances, one and the same. 

4. Individuals who have had experience of the mes- 
meric force, recognise themselves at once as subject 
to the action of the same cause, when sitting in the 
" spirit" circles ; the effects which they experience in 
both cases being so perfectly identical, that they feel 
that they cannot be mistaken in regard to the nature 
of the causes themselves. 

5. In approaching mesmeric subjects, on the one 
hand, and mediums, on the other, the same electric 
shocks are, as before observed, not unfrequently 
experienced, indicating that the two classes of indi- 
viduals are charged with the same force. 



142 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



6. The perfect identity of the conditions of entering 
these two states, and of the disturbing causes common 
to both, present a very strong evidence of the perfect 
identity of the immediate causes of the two classes of 
phenomena. To enter the mesmeric state, on the one 
hand, and to become mediums, on the other, one and 
the same condition is requisite in both instances, 
namely, a state of mental passivity. It is a fact also 
equally well known, that no mesmerizer can pathetize 
his subject when a stronger mesmerizer is by who in- 
ternally resolves that that effect shall not be induced. 
It is a fact equally notorious and undeniable, that the 
same class of individuals, when sitting in the spirit- 
circles, can, by internally and strongly willing it, and 
that when no one is aware of their mental states, 
render it impossible for the circles to obtain any 
responses whatever. Who can doubt, in the presence 
of such facts, the absolute identity of the immediate 
causes of these two classes of phenomena ? A very 
strong mesmerizer, for example, was once sitting in a 
spirit-circle by the side of an invalid, who was there 
for the purpose of being operated upon by the spirits, 
for the restoration of her health. None of the usual 
effects produced upon her appeared, till this gentle- 
man took hold of her hand, when the desired results 
appeared, and appeared with much greater power, the 
spiritualists present remarked, than they had ever 
witnessed before. The gentleman left the circle, and 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 143 



all the supposed spirit-phenomena instantly dis- 
appeared. The cause of the effects which then 
appeared cannot be doubted. They differed, how- 
ever, only in degree from what had been witnessed on 
previous occasions, showing that the same cause 
had been operating in all instances alike. 



144 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



CHAPTER III. 

PHYSICAL AND INTELLECTUAL MANIFESTATIONS 
ELUCIDATED. 

Two classes of facts, as we have seen, demand 
our special attention in our present inquiries — the 
merely physical facts, on the one hand, and intel- 
lectual communications, on the other. As prepara- 
tory to a direct consideration of the question at 
issue between the advocates of the mundane and 
spirit theories, some remarks are deemed requisite 
in elucidation of the character of the phenomena 
under consideration. We will first consider 

THE EXCLUSIVELY PHYSICAL PHENOMENA. 

A moment's reflection will convince any candid 
mind that we have, in this class of facts, no evidence 
whatever of the presence or a^gency of disembodied 
spirits. The facts to be accounted for are purely 
physical effects arising in the presence of the action 
of physical causes. To refer such effects to causes 
ab extra is simply to convict ourselves of palpable 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 145 

ignorance of the first principles of scientific induc- 
tion and deduction. A company of individuals seat 
themselves around a table, and placing their hands 
upon its surface, await the physical results which 
may follow. Any mere physical results which may 
arise under such circumstances, present no more 
evidence of the presence and action of disembodied 
spirits than would the warmth which these persons 
would experience were they all to place their hands 
near a heated body. An individual is engaged in 
adjusting his papers. He finds that one of these, 
and only that one, will adhere to his fingers, so that 
he cannot adjust it as he desires. Does it not throw 
a wonderful degree of light upon such a phenomenon, 
to conclude that a spirit from the upper spheres 
is causing this paper to play such antics ? Articles 
of furniture in a certain house begin, from no visible 
cause, to move towards each other, while raps are 
heard in diverse places. We should make fools of 
ourselves if we should conclude that nothing but 
extra-mundane spirit-agency can produce such re- 
sults. A company of individuals seat themselves 
around a table under the full belief that, if the 
object shall move under their touch, "the spirits" 
must cause such movements. Another company try 
the same experiment, in utter disbelief that "the 
spirits " will have anything to do in originating 
any results which may arise. A third company try 

10 



146 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

precisely the same experiment, and, at the same time, 
challenge " the spirits " to prevent the expected 
movements. Under all these diverse mental and 
identical physical conditions, exactly the same re- 
sults arise. What must we think of the intelli- 
gence and motives of " the spirits " in thus proving 
and disproving their presence and agency ? What 
must we think of the intelligence of men who, in 
the presence of such facts, infer the presence and 
agency of " the spirits " ? Undeniably, all mere 
physical phenomena must be set aside as having 
no bearing, in any direction, upon our inquiries. 
Extra-mundane spirit-presence can be evinced but 
through extra-mundane facts — facts of an intellectual 
character especially. Look now at the facts above 
cited, as occurring at the house of Dr. Griswold 
of New York. The three mediums of the Fox family 
were present, a widow and her two unmarried 
sisters. " An experiment was tried/' we are in- 
formed, " as to what would be the effect with one 
of the ladies alone, or with two without the third, 
or with a gentleman and one or two of the ladies. 
The strongest knockings were on the floor beneath, 
when the widow and her two sisters stood any- 
where together. With two of them the knockings 
were fainter. i We placed ourself between her and 
one of the young ladies/ says Mr. Willis, 'and 
no sounds were produced as a consequence. With 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 147 

one of the mediums alone, there were no phe- 
nomena/ 

"These peculiar characteristics of the conditions 
are worthy of careful consideration. We have found 
several cases where no decided physical phenomena 
could be evolved without the presence of two 
persons, both in a palpably abnormal state ; and we 
shall give one case, in a future chapter, where three 
clairvoyants were required. All such conditions 
clearly indicate the physical agency to belong to 
the physical organism." No other evidence can be 
required to evince absolutely that all mere physical 
manifestations are to be left wholly out of the ac- 
count in determining the question under consider- 
ation. Spiritualism must find its proofs, if it has 
any, among intellectual phenomena exclusively, and 
nowhere else. When we find these movements of 
physical objects to accord with mental states, and 
these sounds to respond to thoughts in our minds, 
then we find the evidence of mental control in 
what we see and hear, and inquire for the mental 
cause of the facts before us. This leads us to a con- 
sideration of the only form of real evidence which 
can be adduced in favour of the claims of Spiritual- 
ism. We refer, of course, to its 

AFFIRMED INTELLECTUAL COMMUNICATIONS. 

Before we can legitimately argue from such facts 



148 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

(the reality of which we freely grant) the truth of the 
Spirit-theory, or adduce them as presenting any form 
or degree of evidence of its truth, it must bp shown, 
as we have already said, and as none will deny, that 
such communications can, in fact, be obtained from 
no exclusively mundane causes, and from no other 
source but the specific one assigned, to wit, reve- 
lations from disembodied spirits. If precisely the 
same or similar communications can be obtained 
from minds in the body, and uncontrolled by spirits 
from other spheres, then these same revelations can 
never, without a flagrant violation of all the principles 
of rational and scientific deduction, be adduced as 
having any real bearing in favour of this theory. If 
we can go still further, and prove undeniably, not 
only that similar phenomena do result from exclu- 
sively mundane causes, but that a very large and 
fundamental part of these so-called spirit-communi- 
cations do, in fact, result from such causes, and from 
nothing higher, we shall have subverted utterly the 
foundation on which the system rests. We here find 
ourselves in the presence of facts which spiritualists 
and the public appear not to have duly considered. 
Suppose that it could be rendered undeniably 
evident that, granting all the affirmed supernatural 
facts recorded in the Bible did occur, and occur as 
related, precisely similar facts do result from exclu- 
sively mundane causes, and that the most important 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 149 

of these, the raising of Lazarus from the dead and 
the resurrection of Christ, were the exclusive results 
of mundane causes, — then, according to the express 
admission of our Saviour Himself, no individual on 
earth would be bound to admit that He came out 
from God. No individual who has any respect for 
truth, will object to the subjection of the claims of 
Spiritualism to this infallible test. What are the 
facts of the case ? 



THE THREE CLASSES OF MEDIUMS. 

Before proceeding to argue this question, a few 
remarks are deemed requisite, pertaining to the 
manner in which these manifestations are produced, 
through the action of the force under consideration, 
as developed in different classes of mediums. In 
three important particulars, there is a perfect agree- 
ment between us and spiritualists, as we suppose, on 
this subject, namely, that these manifestations are 
produced, directly and immediately, through the 
instrumentality of this or some kindred force exist- 
ing in nature around us ; that this force is directed, 
in the production of the class of phenomena under 
consideration, by some intelligent cause ; and finally, 
that this controlling cause is the minds constituting 
the circles, or disembodied spirits out of the circles. 
So far, and that for the most obvious and conclusive 



1 50 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

reasons, no difference of opinion obtains. But how, 
it may be asked, can the thoughts, feelings, and men- 
tal determinations of the minds constituting these 
circles, unconsciously, as must be the case in most 
instances, control this force, so as to produce these 
manifestations, and that through rapping sounds, 
writing, and speaking ? The mystery, it should be 
borne in mind, and here lies the grand mistake of 
spiritualists, is not at all removed by supposing that 
the same force is controlled, in the production of the 
same phenomena, by the thoughts, feelings, and men- 
tal determinations of disembodied spirits out of these 
circles, this being the only way in which such spirits 
ever control the action of this power, if they do it at 
all. Suppose that a given thought exists in a mind 
in a circle, and in that of a disembodied spirit out of 
it. That thought becomes embodied in one of these 
so-called spirit-communications. We affirm that it is 
much more reasonable to suppose that the thought 
lying in the mind in the organism in which this force 
is developed, guided its action, in the production of 
this phenomenon, than to suppose that the same idea 
existing in the mind of a disembodied spirit out of 
the circle, and sustaining no known relations to any 
mundane cause whatever, guided the action of the 
same force, in the production of the same pheno- 
menon. This statement we hold to be self-evidently 
true. 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 1 5 1 



Still a mystery hangs around the question pertain- 
ing to the manner in which mental states, whether 
pertaining to minds in the body or out of it, act upon 
this force, in the production of these phenomena. In 
regard to this subject we would observe, that there 
are three distinct classes of mediums through whom 
such communications are obtained — the rapping, 
writing, and speaking mediums. In the last two 
classes the action of this force is attended with con- 
vulsions, and very great agitation of the physical 
system. In the first, such phenomena very seldom, 
we believe, appear. The reason is obvious. In the 
first class, this force, owing to peculiarities of physical 
condition in the subject, passes off, when excited to 
a certain degree, to some odylic conductor, causing, 
when striking the object to which it passes, the 
rapping sounds under consideration. In the former 
cases, it remains in the physical organism as a dis- 
turbing force, and thus causes the convulsions re- 
ferred to. As the direction of the action of this 
force, in the organisms of such persons, and that from 
its nature and relations to mind, accords with, and is 
controlled by, the mental states of minds in odylic 
rapport with such mediums, the direction of their 
hands, or vocal organs, will be determined by such 
states, just as the mental states of the mesmerizer are 
reproduced in the minds of mesmeric subjects. So 
far the facts themselves, and their manner of occur- 



152 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

rence, perfectly accord with those which occur in 
the mesmeric relations, and no ab extra spirit-agency 
is even apparently demanded, to account for the 
embodiment of any thought pre-existing in these 
circles, in communications thus given forth.' So 
obvious is this accordance, that to us it has been a 
matter of surprise that such phenomena have been 
referred to spirits out of these circles. 

The case of rapping mediums is not so obvious, 
at first thought, to say the least. A moment's 
reflection however, will show that this class of 
phenomena is equally explicable with the others. 
The physical systems of the individuals in these 
circles may be compared to a galvanic battery 
which is continuously, but more especially on 
occasions of the least extra excitement, developing 
this force. As soon as it is developed to a certain 
degree in the organism of the rapping medium, it 
passes off to some object near — a chair, table, the 
ceiling, or floor, as the case may be — and produces, 
in passing into the object, the raps which have 
astonished the world so much. The presence of a 
particular thought, in any mind, the putting of a 
question, any such occurrence, is sufficient to occa- 
sion the excitement necessary to develop this force 
to the degree requisite to produce the raps, in the 
manner explained. An inquirer, for example, asks 
if a spirit is present that will communicate with 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 153 

him ? The putting of the question excites him, 
and through him the medium, sufficiently to develop 
the force to that degree that occasions the number 
of raps understood as implying an affirmative 
answer. He now asks the name of the spirit, his 
own mind being fixed upon some individual. As 
the letters of the alphabet are called, the moment 
the first letter of the name of that person is pro- 
nounced, the mind of the inquirer is sufficiently 
excited to occasion, in the manner described, a 
rap. So also as each subsequent letter of that 
name is pronounced, till the whole is given. On 
principles precisely similar, answers to questions pro- 
posed may be obtained. Suppose, on the other hand, 
that the inquirer has no particular name in his 
mind. When the first letter of the name of a certain 
individual is pronounced, the law of unconscious 
association may produce the excitement requisite to 
occasion the rap, and thus the name may be given. 
These suggestions, together with the fact, most 
abundantly established, that this power acts in many 
important particulars in accordance with mental 
states, and is determined in the direction of its 
activity by the same, will, we think, satisfy the 
reader, as far as any inquiries may arise in his mind, 
in regard to the manner in which these rapping 
sounds are produced. 

We will now proceed to argue the questions, whether 



154 Phenomena of Spirititalism 



phenomena of the identical character of these so- 
called spirit-communications are obtained through 
exclusively mundane causes, and whether a large 
and essential portion of these communications are 
not themselves obtained through such sources. To 
such questions we answer, precisely similar com- 
munications have been obtained through exclusively 
mundane sources. 

I. The identical communications which are obtained 
in these circles can, we remark, and that without ex- 
ception, be obtained in circumstances and relations 
in which there is the highest evidence of the total 
absence of all ab extra spirit interposition. We 
enter a spirit-circle in which we are total strangers, 
and where our visit was wholly unexpected. We 
put our questions pertaining to every subject on 
which spirits are ever questioned there, and receive 
every form of answer which is ever reported, as 
coming from spirits. We then go into the presence 
of an individual rendered clairvoyant by mesmeric 
influences, an individual to whom we sustain the 
precise relations above specified. We here put the 
identical questions we did before, and receive in 
return the identical communications which we then 
and there obtained. We then repeat the same 
experiment, with precisely the same results, in the 
presence of other individuals similarly related to 
us, — individuals rendered more permanently clair- 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 155 

voyant by the influence of drugs, or a residence 
in certain localities. In the two instances last 
named, our communications are undeniably ob- 
tained in the total absence of the agency of 
disembodied spirits. If any individual, to save the 
doctrine of Spiritualism, should assert the contrary, 
he would not only be guilty of denying what the 
world knows to be true, and he himself has hitherto 
admitted as self-evident, but would betray a degree 
of ignorance and moral obtuseness which would 
render him unworthy of being reasoned with at all. 
We may as reasonably affirm that all our mental 
perceptions of every kind are from spirits, and are 
caused exclusively by their interposition, as to affirm 
that the mental perceptions of clairvoyants are thus 
induced. Yet we obtain, through these individuals, 
all the responses, with all their peculiar character- 
istics, which are obtained, or can be obtained, 
through spirit-mediums. Do we obtain intelligent 
communications through the latter? So we do 
through the former. Do we obtain, through the 
latter, correct responses to questions pertaining to 
subjects of which they are profoundly ignorant? So 
we do through the former. Do we obtain, through 
the latter, responses to purely mental questions ? So 
we do through the former. Do we, in some instances, 
through the latter, obtain correct responses to 
inquiries pertaining to subjects of which ourselves, 



156 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

and all present, are ignorant? So we do through 
the former. Do our communications, through the 
latter, come as from spirits ? So, by simply willing 
it, the same communications may come to us, 
through the former, as from spirits, the same spirits, 
too, invoked through the latter. There is not a 
single communication, or characteristic of any com- 
munication, which is obtained, or can be obtained, 
through the mediums, which are not and may not 
be obtained through clairvoyants, when under the 
exclusive influence of purely mundane causes, the 
identical causes by which all these so-called spirit- 
communications are immediately originated. How 
can the claims of Spiritualism be sustained by an 
appeal to such communications — communications 
perfectly identical with those which proceed from 
exclusively mundane causes ? The system falls to 
pieces upon its own fundamental facts. It has ad- 
duced, and can adduce, not a solitary fact, physical 
or mental, whose occurrence and total characteristics 
may not be and are not accounted for by a reference 
to exclusively mundane causes. None but purely 
mundane facts are adduced. How can we argue 
from these the presence and interposition of ab extra 
mundane causes? Nothing can be more illogical 
than any such deductions. 

2. As we said of the physical manifestations, so we 
now affirm of those under consideration, nothing but 



Scientifically Explained arid Exposed. 157 

precisely these or similar communications could have 
been anticipated from a careful induction and classi- 
fication of all the facts pertaining to the action of this 
force in relations and circumstances where no spirit 
agency is to be supposed, the very force through 
which these manifestations are immediately induced, 
We have, in these circles, the same power operating, 
and operating upon individuals in precisely similar 
relations to each other as in clairvoyance. The 
circles are to the mediums what the magnetizers, and 
others in magnetic communications with the mag- 
netized, are to such individuals, If similar pheno- 
mena were not developed in the spirit-circles to those 
which do appear, supposing no disembodied spirits 
were ever present in them, such a fact would be an 
anomaly in the history of the action of this force 
when developed in the human organism ; a fact just 
as wonderful and unaccountable on any other suppo- 
sition than some ab extra mundane agency to pre- 
vent their occurrence, as their occurrence now appears 
to those who are ignorant of the peculiar properties 
of this mysterious force in nature. Their non- 
occurrence in these circles would be a much higher 
proof of the presence and interposition of spirits than 
is their actual occurrence now. 

If we should recur to the most important and 
decisive communications ever obtained through the 
spirit-mediums, we should find even those more than 



158 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

paralleled by precisely similar communications about 
which "the spirits " undeniably have nothing to do. 
In these circles, in instances very few and far between, 
as compared with the multitudinous errors there made 
in respect to the subjects of which we are now speak- 
ing, correct answers are obtained to questions about 
which all present are profoundly ignorant — visions of 
objects occur far removed from the observation and 
even the thoughts of such persons, and coming events 
are foreshadowed. If we should compare the number 
of the correct with the false communications thus 
obtained, we should have little, very little, occasion to 
suppose the presence in the circles of much higher 
sources of information than what does, in fact, charac- 
terize common guessing. When one is true, ninety- 
nine false ones are undeniably obtained of the class 
under consideration. The correct ones,^on the other 
hand, are more than paralleled by dreams and clair- 
voyant visions, in respect to which no aid from the 
spirits is to be supposed. 

Of dream- visions, take the following fact stated by 
Dr. Bushnel in his great work entitled " Nature and 
the Supernatural." We condense the account re- 
ferred to, an account of the validity of which none 
will doubt who will read Dr. Bushnel's statements. 
A wealthy planter in California had a vision in his 
sleep of a company of emigrants blocked in by the 
snow in a mountain pass between the eastern and the 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed, 159 

Pacific coast. He observed and remembered accu- 
rately the scenery around, and the countenances of 
individuals of the company. This man had never 
visited or heard of that scenery, having emigrated by 
the Panama rout. The vision was regarded as nothing 
but a singular dream-fancy. Immediately after, some 
hunters spent a night with the planter. While they 
♦vere recounting their adventures, he told them of his 
singular dream-vision. As he described the scenery, 
the hunters assured him that he had given an exact 
description of a certain pass which they named, a 
pass which lay on the emigrant rout, they having 
frequently visited the place. The planter, amid the 
ridicule of his neighbours, gathered provisions, and 
placing them upon mules, started with a company of 
hired men for the place referred to. On his arrival, 
he found the emigrants as he had seen them in his 
vision, and at once recognised the countenances of 
the leading individuals. 

The public papers of the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, 
fully vouch for the truth of the following statements. 
A young woman of that city had a brother in the 
gold regions of California. In her sleep, one night, 
she had the following dream-vision in respect to her 
brother. She saw him rise very carefully from his 
bed in his log hut, and after getting his bowie knife, 
stand, holding his weapon in a striking position, by 
the side of the bed. Soon she saw a hand, holding a 



160 Pheitomena of Spiritualism 

dagger, pass in through the opening between the logs 
at the head of the bed. As the hand passed near the 
spot where her brother had lain, there was a violent 
stab. Her brother, with a single blow with his heavy- 
weapon, severed the arm of the would-be assassin 
from his body. A fearful shriek, and the report of a 
pistol was heard on the outside of the hut. The 
brother ran out and brought in the body of the dying 
man, who had shot himself with his remaining hand, 
after the other had been cut off. The sister told the 
vision to the family and neighbours, and it was much 
spoken of as merely a very singular dream. The 
next letter received from the brother gave a detailed 
statement of events in exact accordance with all 
the particulars of the dream, events which occurred 
on the very night of the dream. The would-be 
assassin was a Mexican, who had become offended 
with the brother. Are dream-visions revelations 
of "the spirits"? Yet the former are sometimes 
as true and strange, and always as reliable, as are 
the latter, when they relate to events distant and 
unknown. 

How accurate in some instances, and yet how 
generally unreliable, are ordinary clairvoyant visions, 
visions with which none suppose "the spirits" have 
anything to do. We need only refer here to those 
already cited from the works of President Wayland. 
Spiritualists can boast of not one of their mediums 



Scientifically Exp lamed and Exposed. 1 6 1 

through whom communications in respect to unknown 
and distant objects and events are obtained, at all 
comparable in reliability with those obtained through 
the mesmerized individual referred to. The same 
holds true in numberless other cases. We will here 
specify one which occurred in the family of our own 
daughter, Her husband, a member of the legal pro- 
fession in the city of Cleveland, Ohio, U.S., was 
accustomed to spend, in company with several other 
gentlemen, two or more weeks prior to the setting in 
of winter each year, in hunting in the northern part 
of the state of Michigan, the object being health and 
pleasure. On one occasion, he had gone in company 
with seven associates. All that our daughter knew of 
their whereabouts was that they were somewhere in 
the northern regions of the state referred to, several 
hundred miles from home. After she had retired to 
her bed one night, being, for quite a long period, on 
account of nervousness, unable to sleep, she had, when 
perfectly awake, the following distinct vision of that 
company of hunters. While they were all lying in 
profound sleep, in pairs, in different parts of a single 
room, a small and deformed female, holding in her 
hand a lighted tallow candle, passed very carefully 
through that room. When near its centre, she 
stopped for a moment to look around her. This gave 
our daughter an opportunity to take a distinct view 
of the woman, the room, and of the specific locality of 

II 



1 62 Phenomena of Spirihtalism 

each man in the room. On the return of her husband 
she gave him the particulars of that vision. " Well," 
he replied, " you have given an exact account of 
the appearance of the woman, of the room, and of 
the specific locality of everyone in it. But of the 
passage of the woman through the room I know 
nothing." "Of course you know nothing of that 
fact," our daughter replied, " because you were all 
sound asleep at the time." 

A friend of ours, a gentleman of known intelligence 
and integrity, gave us an account of an aged friend of 
his, a lady, who had long been the subject of similar 
visions. One winter evening, when the family were 
sitting around their fire, she started up with the 
announcement that, in such a locality, a quite distant^ 
one, a man had become bewildered and lost, and was 
perishing in the snow. A company, with a dog and 
lights, went to the place designated, and found the 
man as stated. Such facts lie all around us, in the 
history of the race. The law which obtains in such 
cases is obviously this. When the proper conditions, 
the conditions of ordinary vision, are fulfilled, we 
have a direct and immediate perception of objects 
around us. When certain psychic conditions obtain 
between us and any objects, however remote from 
and unknown to us, we then have a preception, 
equally direct and immediate, of such objects, and 
this whether those relations are fulfilled in our sleep- 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 163 

ing or waking moments. To say that such precep- 
tions sometimes occur in the spirit-circles simply 
evinces the presence and action of the odylic force 
there ; and this force being present, it would be a 
mystery if this kind of communications did not 
sometimes occur there. 

Certain individuals, also, of a peculiar tempera- 
ment, have, at times, a singular pre-impression of 
coming events. Some one or two years since, one of 
the most calamitous accidents known in the history 
of railroads occurred on the road between Cleveland, 
Ohio, and Buffalo, New York. The statement went 
the rounds of the papers that one of our distin- 
guished Baptist clergymen had lost his life in that 
catastrophe. Soon after, an authenticated statement 
to this effect appeared. On the arrival of the train 
prior to the one under consideration, at Cleveland, 
that clergyman left the depot, with his baggage, and 
had his name registered at one of the hotels. This 
he did with the fixed purpose of remaining over until 
morning, and then taking the train in which the acci- 
dent occurred. As he was about to retire to his 
room, a very distinct and strong impression was 
made upon his mind that he should instantly hasten 
to the depot and take the train he had left. This he 
did, and escaped the death he would otherwise have 
suffered. The next morning an entire family, wall 
known in that city, a family consisting of an aged 



164 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

mother, her daughter, son-in-law, and children, were 
prevented taking that train by the following circum- 
stance. When the entire family were dressed for the 
journey, the carriages being at the door, and the trunks 
being put on board, that aged mother suddenly 
stated that she could not go in that train. On 
being very strongly expostulated with, she remarked 
that the rest might go on, but she must tarry until 
the next train. The whole company accordingly 
tarried, and the lives of that entire family were saved. 
Dr. Walker, the author of "The Philosophy of the 
Plan of Salvation," and his wife, they having no 
children of their own, adopted two orphan sisters. 
These children had, from time to time, singular pre- 
monitions of coming events. When spending a season 
in their family, Mrs. Walker, in the presence of her 
husband, made to us this statement. When her hus- 
band was absent, and was not at all expected home 
short of one or two days, one of the children said, 
" Mamma, father will come home at such an hour to- 
day : he will enter that door," — a door which he was 
not accustomed to enter when coming home from 
abroad, — " and he will place his umbrella in that cor- 
ner." At the exact time specified he did enter that 
door, and set his umbrella in the place designated. 
The return of Dr. Walker, as he informed me, was 
unexpected to himself, and he could give no reason 
for the fact that he entered his house and did as the 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 165 

child had predicted. We could readily fill a volume of 
well-authenticated facts of this character — facts in 
the origination of which " the spirits " undeniably 
have nothing whatever to do. Unless Spiritualism, 
which is impossible, can show higher facts than these, 
facts, too, entirely diverse in character from these, 
it cannot present even presumptive evidence that 
" the spirits " originate even its highest known 
phenomena. 

Xor should the wonders of common guessing be 
overlooked in this connexion. We once, in a dis- 
cussion of the claims of Spiritualism, made before a 
great congregation in Cleveland, Ohio, the following 
statement. The leading spiritualist in the city, a 
former graduate of Yale College, had missed an 
important paper, and searched in vain for it in every 
part of his house where he even conjectured it might 
be found. On mentioning the fact to a gentleman 
of the city, the latter said : " Let me see now, if I 
cannot tell you just where that paper can be found." 
After thinking a moment he continued : " Go into the 
south-east chamber of the second story of your house ; 
go to the bureau which stands on the north side of 
that room, open such a drawer, and in the north-east 
corner of that drawer you will find that paper." 
Following those directions, Mr. S. found his papers 
in the very spot designated. Yet the man who gave 
the directions afterwards affirmed, and I so stated 



1 66 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

in the presence of Mr. S., who admitted the facts, that 
every one of those directions was a mere guess in the 
dark. The man had never been in that chamber, 
and did not know that there was a bureau in it. 

All the classes of facts above stated undeniably 
owe their origin to exclusively mundane causes, 
causes over which " the spirits " have no control. Yet, 
if we add to the ordinary mesmeric communications 
all the above classes of facts, we have perfectly 
paralleled all the ordinary and extraordinary intel- 
lectual phenomena of which Spiritualism can boast, 
and have thus utterly annihilated all reasons for 
attributing said phenomena to the agency of " the 
spirits.'' 

A LARGE AND ESSENTIAL PORTION OF THESE 
AFFIRMED SPIRIT-COMMUNICATIONS HAVE AN 
EXCLUSIVELY MUNDANE ORIGIN. 

When called upon to determine the cause of a 
given class of facts, all having the same essential 
characteristics, all that is requisite is to render it 
undeniably evident that an essential portion of them 
are the exclusive result of a specific cause. It is, 
then, to be presumed that all the remainder are the 
results of the action of the same cause. How is it in 
respect to the question before us ? Let us, in the 
first place, listen to the views and testimony of 
spiritualists themselves — spiritualists of the highest 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 167 

standing known among them. According to the 
admissions of the most intelligent and influential 
individuals among them — indeed, of the whole sect, 
so far as our knowledge extends — all these com- 
munications are more or less determined, in their 
characteristics, by the mediums themselves ; and 
many of them are wholly caused, not at all by 
disembodied spirits, but by the mediums, or by 
individuals in the spirit-circles. " The medium/' 
says Mr. Ballou, and we have yet to hear of the 
first spiritualist who dissents from this view, "is a 
sort of amanuensis, a translator or interpreter of the 
spirit's leading ideas. In this character media will 
exhibit, in various degrees, the defects of their own 
respective rhetoric/ 5 Again, he says, " It is amazing 
to see the unreasonableness and pertinacity of our 
opponents. They have taken the ground that none 
of these manifestations, none of these communications 
are from departed spirits. We have taken the posi- 
tion that some of them are from departed spirits, 
and others not! 1 The italics are our authors. In 
another place still, we have the following very im- 
portant statements : — 

" I have now to treat of cases under Class Second ; 
i.e., 'those in which some of the important demon- 
strations were probably caused or greatly affected 
by ^departed spirits/ I mean by zmdeparted 
spirits, persons in the flesh who by their will or 



1 68 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

psychological power, control the agency which gives 
forth sounds, motions, etc. I refer not to impostors, 
playing off counterfeits. I am treating of phenomena 
caused by mental power alone, coacting with the 
mysterious agency under consideration. 
" I have cases such as the following :— 
" I. In which the bias, prejudice, predilection, or 
will of the medium evidently governed and charac- 
terized the demonstrations. In these cases the 
answers given to questions, the doctrines taught, 
and the peculiar leanings of communications spelled 
out, were so obviously fashioned by the medium's 
own mind, as to leave no doubt of the fact. 

"In absolute confirmation of this, questions have 
been written out and presented to the medium, with 
a request that the answers should, if possible, be 
given thus and so. And they were given by raps 
accordingly. I myself gave questions in this way 
to a certain medium, and found that answers could 
be obtained in the affirmative or negative, or in flat 
contradiction to previous answers, if the medium 
would but agree to will it. At the same time, I 
made myself certain that this medium could not 
procure the rapping agency at will. It came, stayed, 
and went as it would ; and in that respect was un- 
controllable. But when it chanced to be present, it 
could be overruled, biased, and perverted more or 
less by the medium. 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed, 169 

" 2. In other cases there has been an overruling 
psychological influence exerted by some powerful 
mind or minds present in the room with the 
medium. In such cases this powerful influence, 
with or without the consciousness of the medium, 
has elicited answers just such as had been wished 
or willed by the managing mind. And these 
answers have alternately contradicted each other 
in the plainest manner, during the same half-hour s 
demonstration. 

" In one instance a strong-willed man resolved 
to reverse certain disagreeable predictions frequently 
repeated through two tipping media who often sat 
in conjunction. The result was, he could overrule 
one of them sitting alone, and get a response to 
suit himself. But both of them together over- 
matched his psychological powers. I might give 
names, places, dates, and details in this connexion ; 
but it is unnecessary. There can be no reasonable 
doubt of the facts just stated. It may be set down 
as certain that there are cases wherein some of the 
important demonstrations are caused or greatly 
affected by //^departed spirits. How far influences 
of this sort extend and characterize spirit-manifesta- 
tions, remains to be ascertained. We can positively 
identify them in many cases. 

" In some, they are known to the parties concerned, 
and acknowledged to have been consciously and 



170 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

intentionally exerted. In others they may be justly 
suspected, where no consciousness of them is felt by 
the medium, or by any dominant mind," 

" I do not, of course, mean," says Rev. H. Snow, 
"that I believe in all the claims that have been 
advanced, of this character ; on the contrary, I am 
of opinion that much which purports to come from 
unseen beings does in reality come, either partly or 
wholly, from minds in the body." 

If the validity of the above admissions and state- 
ments were denied, undeniable facts affirming their 
validity are so multitudinous, and decisive in their 
bearing, as to induce the most unwavering conviction 
in all candid minds. So conscious do mediums be- 
come of the control which they can exercise over 
the action of this force, when developed, that they 
no doubt often direct its action for the purpose of 
deceiving the circles in which they are holding forth. 
We will give, in illustration, a fact which occurred 
some years since, when a medium was entertaining 
circles in Cleveland, at the house of the distinguished 
spiritualist, Joel Tiffany, Esq. We do not hold him 
responsible at all for the acts of the medium. The 
case was this. A gentleman, a member of the bar 
in that city, on his first introduction to the spirit- 
circles, was strongly inclined, to say the least, to 
embrace, in full, the doctrine of Spiritualism, so 
inexplicable, on any other theory, did the undeniable 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 171 

facts presented appear. Subsequently, however, he 
became fully convinced that while the rappings were 
a reality, and no imposition, the force which produced 
them was, sometimes consciously, but more generally 
unconsciously, controlled by spirits in and not out 
of the body. He, accordingly, having gained the 
confidence of the medium, one of the best that ever 
appeared among us, united with her in deceiving 
temporarily, for his own amusement, some of his 
friends, who visited these circles. On one occasion, 
he remarked to those present that none of the tests 
which they had applied were, or ought to be, fully 
satisfactory ; because that, in all instances, they had 
to depend upon the testimony of individuals in 
regard to the question whether their inquiries were 
or were not correctly answered. He would propose 
a test about which there could be no mistake, and of 
the character of which they could all alike judge for 
themselves. He would retire from the circle, and 
write down seven questions, and having returned, he 
would put them in succession mentally, no one, as 
they could all testify, seeing the paper but himself. 
The answers, as rapped out, they should take down, 
and when completed, he would read each question 
in order, and they should read the answer, and see 
for themselves how they corresponded, each to each. 
Seven questions were accordingly written out, and 
put as suggested, and seven answers were rapped 



172 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

out. When compared it was found that each ques- 
tion had been specifically and correctly answered. 
We will give three of them as examples of the rest, 
namely, the first two, and the last u Question. 
How many days are there in a week ? Ans. Seven. 
Oues. Who performs these wonders ? (This was put 
in Latin.) Ans. The spirits. Oues. What do the 
spirits think of any in this circle who are not now 
convinced? Ans. If an angel from heaven should 
speak to them, they would not believe." All who 
understood not the facts as they were, were astounded 
and convinced, of course. The gentleman subse- 
quently informed his wondering friends that he had, 
prior to that meeting, put all those answers in 
writing into the hands of the medium, informing her 
that corresponding questions would be put in the 
form stated, and that she must prepare herself 
accordingly. The answers, as he affirms, were given, 
word for word, as he wrote them. The spelling, 
however, was hers, she being a poor speller. Yet the 
rappings, he further adds, were no imposition, and 
remain to this day, to his mind, a deep mystery. 
The deception lay exclusively in persuading the 
persons present that spirits out of the circle, and not 
the minds in it, controlled the action of the force 
by which the answers were given forth. 

In this case, no one can doubt that the cause of 
the manifestations was exclusively mundane. The 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 173 

fact, then, that many of these communications are 
wholly from the minds in the circles, and in no form 
from spirits out of them, is not only admitted by 
spiritualists, but is too manifest to be doubted or 
denied, for a single moment. Now these facts and 
admissions are far more sweeping in their necessary 
consequences, than spiritualists appear to have ever 
imagined. All evidence of the truth of their theory, 
derived from all their several classes of facts but the 
last, the fact that events are sometimes correctly 
reported in these circles, events of which all present 
were previously ignorant, is utterly annihilated. If 
one thought existing in these circles may become 
embodied in these communications, without the 
agency of disembodied spirits, any other and all 
others may be. If one question, whether put ver- 
bally or mentally, pertaining to any subject of which 
the inquirer or anyone present is informed, may 
be correctly answered^ without the interposition of 
spirits, any other such question may be thus answered, 
and all evidence of the truth of Spiritualism, derived 
from such communications, is utterly annihilated. 
Yet upon precisely such facts, the claims of this 
theory have hitherto been mainly based. We obtain, 
in these circles, it is argued, intelligent communica- 
tions, thus evincing the fact that they originate from 
an intelligent cause. Responses are obtained to 
questions pertaining to subjects about which the 



174 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



mediums and all present, but the inquirers, were 
profoundly ignorant. Purely mental questions, also, 
are thus answered. All this is freely granted. We 
must bear in mind, however, that answers to precisely 
such questions, every class of them, are obtained, in 
the total absence of any control or agency of dis- 
embodied spirits ; a fact so undeniable, that even 
spiritualists universally admit it. How can the truth 
of that theory, then, be argued from such communica- 
tions ? The entire evidence of its truth derived from 
any one of these classes of facts, or from all of them 
together, is utterly annihilated. All its claims, all the 
hopes of its abettors to sustain them, hang exclusively 
upon one solitary class, the simple fact that, in some 
instances, correct responses are obtained to inquiries 
where the true answer was not previously known 
to any persons in the circles at the time when the 
meeting commenced. When we shall have ac- 
counted satisfactorily for this one class of facts, we 
shall utterly have annihilated all the evidence of 
every kind of the truth of Spiritualism. To a 
careful consideration of this class, we will now ad- 
vance. All that we have to do to gain our point, 
is to prove that there are existing and operating in 
these circles, purely mundane causes from which, 
without the interposition of disembodied spirits, this 
new information may have been brought into the 
circles, and thus have been embodied in the responses 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 175 

referred to. On this point, we have occasion to call 
attention merely to the following decisive considera- 
tions. 

1. There are known to be present, and in active 
exercise, in these circles, three forms of mental 
activity, which are abundantly sufficient to account 
for this entire class of facts, on the supposition that 
disembodied spirits have no connexion with them 
whatever, namely, the Imagination, the principle of 
Conjecture or Guessing, and Clairvoyance. A ques- 
tion is proposed in one of these circles. The attention 
of every one is consequently fixed upon it, with the 
curiosity of all intensely excited. Each individual, of 
course, forms in his own mind, through the action of 
the imagination, some conception of what the answer 
should be, and among the possible answers which 
should be given, he w T ill also of necessity conjecture 
or guess that some specific one is true. This act of 
the imagination on the one hand, or the conjecture 
on the other, becomes embodied in the response 
rapped, written, or spoken out through the medium, 
In some instances, of course, and the case could not 
be otherwise, when the guessing principle and the 
imagination are continuously, in myriads of circles, 
occasioning responses of this kind, the answer 
given forth will be right, and the perfect coincidence 
between it and the state of facts a matter of surprise. 
Now suppose, which is true and notoriously so among 



176 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

spiritualists the world over, that all wrong answers 
are set aside as of no account, while every response 
which happens to be true is set down as certain proof 
of this theory. We should, in that case, find in the 
works with which the community is being flooded 
from the spirit-presses, the same wonderful facts 
adduced in favour of the claims of Spiritualism that 
we now have. Now we record it as our solemn con- 
viction, and we speak advisedly in what we utter, that 
there is not one in a hundred of the well-authenticated 
cases of this kind that has ever occurred in these 
circles that cannot be accounted for on the principles 
under consideration, and that would not be just what 
it is, supposing spirits to have no connexion what- 
ever with these communications. Then to account 
for the very few facts which perhaps should not be 
referred to these principles, we need only refer to 
what is known and affirmed by spiritualists them- 
selves to be true, the occasional occurrence of states 
of clairvoyance in these circles. Suppose that when 
a question is put, the medium, or some other indi- 
vidual, is in a state of clairvoyance, and happens, at 
the instant, to come into rapport with the real facts 
inquired after. The perceptions thus obtained would, 
of course, be embodied in the response given forth, 
and thus, without the interposition of spirits, we should 
have the wonderful revelations which are now being 
spread before the world as coming from spirits, and 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 177 

as proof of their presence and interposition. All this 
might occur, and the clairvoyant not be distinctly 
conscious of what had happened, just as individuals, 
as spiritualists themselves admit, often produce 
responses when honestly supposing that spirits do 
it. Now, on the supposition that no disembodied 
spirit was ever present in any of these circles, we 
could not fail to have, from the action of the three 
causes under consideration, all the wonderful revela- 
tions, just as they occur, which spiritualists are 
holding before the public mind as proof of their 
theory. We have no occasion to refer to an ab 
extra spirit-agency to account for any real revelation 
that has ever been given forth in any circle in the 
wide world, and consequently nothing can be more 
absurd than such reference. Facts which could not 
but occur, with all their peculiarities as they are, if 
no disembodied spirits were present, cannot, without 
a flagrant violation of all the laws of scientific and 
common sense procedure, be adduced as proof of 
their presence and agency. No other facts ever 
have been or can be adduced in favour of the claims 
of Spiritualism. 

2. These revelations bear all possible characteristics 
of an origination from the very causes to which we 
have referred them, and none which they would bear 
did they come from spirits, and especially from the 
spirits to whom they are referred. Did they originate 



1 78 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

from these three causes exclusively, then the responses 
pertaining to subjects of which all in the circles were 
ignorant, would be, in instances very "few and far 
between," right, and strikingly so, and in all others 
wrong. Now this undeniably is the precise character 
of all these professed spirit-revelations pertaining 
to such subjects. If, on the other hand, they came 
from intelligent spirits, good or bad, who did not wish 
to stand revealed to the world as superlative liars and 
deceivers, we should find, what we do not now find, 
that these responses are generally, to say the least, 
correct, and only in instances "few and far between," 
wrong. Spirits of common prudence, such as is pos- 
sessed by men in the flesh, and not utterly reckless 
of their character for truth and veracity, would be 
exceedingly careful about the answers which they 
should give forth to such inquiries. On no other 
principle could they distinguish their responses from 
those originating from the causes above named, and 
thus give evidence of their own agency in these reve- 
lations. Yet these so-called, par excellence, spirit- 
revelations have none of the characteristics which they 
certainly would have did they come from spirits, and 
all and none others that they would have did they 
originate from the causes to which we have assigned 
them. The validity of these statements cannot be 
shaken, and spiritualists, we think, will not attempt 
to do it. Yet here lies an immovable rock, namely, 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 179 

facts which cannot be denied, upon which this system 
must fall to pieces. Their facts, the only facts on 
which they can rely, are just such as would not come 
from spirits, good or bad, and just such as could not 
but originate from the very mundane causes to which 
we have assigned them. 

3. The very principle on which the entire claims of 
Spiritualism rest, would, if its validity were admitted, 
affirm with equal absoluteness the most false and 
absurd claims of the grossest impostors that ever 
existed. A devoted spiritualist, for example, made an 
inquiry in a spirit-circle, in reference to a subject of 
which he was ignorant, and wished to be informed, 
and accompanied the inquiry with this statement : 
" If the answer obtained turns out to be wrong, it 
will not shake my confidence in Spiritualism itself, in 
the least." A very influential and devoted spiritual- 
ist, in conversation with us, years ago, referred to 
certain startling predictions which ' " the spirits " had 
just uttered in regard to the affairs of Europe, predic- 
tions which were to be fulfilled by the middle of 
February 1854, predictions not one of which has been 
verified, but all proved false. The reference was 
accompanied with this remark : " If these predictions 
turn out to be true, very well ; if not, they go for 
nothing." This is the precise principle everywhere 
assumed by spiritualists, in arguing for the truth of 
their theory ; and in doing so, they sell themselves to 



180 Phenomena of Spiritualism. 

be deceived. Take a case in illustration. A friend 
of ours, a clergyman, when on the way to visit a 
family belonging to his congregation, some time 
since, forecast in his own mind whom of the family, 
and whom of the neighbours, he should find in the 
parlour on his arrival, and where each should be 
seated, etc. On his arrival, he found that these fore- 
imaginings were, in almost every particular, correct. 
Suppose, now, that he had wished to impose himself 
upon his people as a divinely-inspired prophet ; that 
for this end he should begin to give public utterance 
to numberless foreshadowings of a similar kind, one 
in a hundred or a thousand of which could not, of 
course, fail to be true ; that he had also occasional 
revelations by means of clairvoyance, and that these 
should be mingled with the other professed revela- 
tions ; and that his people should receive every pre- 
diction and utterance which happened to be fulfilled 
as a proof of his assumed claims, while, by universal 
consent, they should pass by all false ones as having 
no bearing, one way or the other, upon the subject. 
Who does not see that such an individual, through 
such a principle, would soon stand revealed to the 
people as a divinely-inspired and authorized prophet, 
with as high claims as Isaiah or Elijah, and with an 
authority as absolute as Jesus Christ, though he were 
one of the darkest impostors that ever existed ? No 
other result could arise from such a principle of judg- 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 181 

ing, and upon this very principle exclusively the 
entire claims of Spiritualism are based. Predictions 
and communications which happen to be true, are 
trumpeted through the world as demonstrating its 
claims, while the hundred or thousand false ones, to 
one that turns out to be true, are dropped, as having 
no bearing either way. Were they to present to the 
world a true record of the false responses continu- 
ously given forth, in their own circles, with the true 
ones standing here and there in their midst, solitary 
and alone, the world would turn in utter disgust from 
the spectacle, and spiritualists themselves would 
blush with shame, to intimate a spirit-origin for such 
monstrosities. 

4. The nature of many of these communications, 
also, render it demonstrably evident that they must 
have an exclusively mundane origin and cause. 
When the celebrated medium, Mrs. Fish, had, as was 
supposed, finished the sessions of one of the circles, 
on an evening in Cleveland, Ohio, loud raps were un- 
expectedly heard, indicating that " the spirits " had 
something special to reveal. The alphabet was taken, 
and the following revelation was rapped out : " The 

spirits direct that Mr. ," our informant, " now go 

down to the saloon, and taking the medium with him, 
get some oysters." As we shall see hereafter, a spirit 
affirmed to have come down from the upper sphere, 
rapped out, in answer to mental questions, put in a 



1 82 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

high circle in the city of Boston, Mass., his own name 
as " Miserable Humbug," and affirmed that, in that 
highest of all the spheres, "the spirits live on pork 
and beans." Will any man in his senses attribute 
such communications to " the spirits " ? 

The spirit of a certain lad was affirmed to have 
told, some time after his death, where a pen-knife 
which he had lost might be found, and it was found 
accordingly. In each of two public debates held, at 
intervals of several years from each other, at Cleve- 
land, Ohio, that fact was adduced by the same 
speaker, one of the leading spiritualists in America, 
and introduced, in both instances, as one of the main 
pillars of his high argument. 

We have carefully examined the revelations of 
" the spirits " from the first up to the present time, 
and found them all, with very few exceptions, to be 
similar to the above, and those next presented. We 
took up, for example, the late works of the famous 
R. D. Owen, in the expectation of finding recorded 
therein fact which would rise at least somewhat 
above common-place. We found very little, how- 
ever, which rose much higher than that which 
pertains to the pen-knife. Take as examples 
of these revelations pertaining to the unknown, 
the following : — 

An individual who has a husband in California, 
who has learned, by experience, that it is not only not 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 183 

good for man, but for woman also, " to be alone/' and 
who, in her loneliness, has come so far within the 
attractive influence of one who is not her husband, as 
to make " a local habitation and a name " with him 
an object of strong desire, enters a spirit-circle, and is 
there accosted, very unexpectedly, it is affirmed, by 
the spirit of her husband, from whom she had failed 
to obtain information at the time expected. With the 
tenderest expressions of affection, he informs her that 
he is no longer in the body, but an inhabitant of the 
"spirit land." There was one thing, and only one, 
requisite to the completion of his happiness there — 
her immediate union, in marriage, with the individual 
above referred to. The ceremony must be performed 
the very next evening — we think that was the time — - 
at such an hour, and in such a room, which was to be 
darkened, where he would be present, and himself, as 
a rapping revelator, preside over and conduct the 
exercises. Of course the mourning widow was not 
" disobedient to the heavenly vision," and the desired 
union was consummated accordingly. After the 
lapse of a few weeks, however, a letter arrived from 
the California husband, bearing date some days 
subsequent to the ceremony in the dark room. So 
strong was the sympathy of " the spirits " for human 
woe, in this instance, that they were willing to 
become reckless liars for its relief. New but false 
information was here conveyed. Such are some of 



184 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

the credibly reported doings and new revelations of 
the spirits in the state of Ohio. 

In another instance, a husband went to California 
under the belief, as his friends affirm, of infidelity to 
him on the part of his wife, who subsequently, in 
appearance, as they further affirm, drawn by a new 
attachment, was making efforts to obtain a divorce 
from " her liege lord." But while the law was 
" dragging its slow length along," behind the " hot 
haste" of human desire, the spirit of that husband 
addressed the wife, through a medium, in a spirit- 
circle, and informed her that she was now "loosed 
from the law of her husband," " and would not be an 
adulteress, though she should be married to another 
man." Subsequent intelligence confirmed, in this 
case, the revelation of the spirits, though there are yet 
among his friends doubters of the fact of the death of 
the individual referred to. This is one among the 
cases on which the claims of Spiritualism are based. 

We need not argue this question any further. A 
fact which is openly admitted by spiritualists them- 
selves, and which is evinced by real proof too 
obvious to be questioned by any class of candid 
thinkers, may be assumed as a valid basis for future 
deductions. 

We claim to have established, undeniably, two 
important facts in regard to these phenomena : that 
they are, in kind, the same, in every essential respect, 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 185 

as those which are known to result from exclusively 
mundane causes ; and that a large and important 
portion of these so-called spirit-phenomena have no 
other but such causes, We are now prepared to con- 
sider the question whether they all, in common, have 
not the same origin and cause. In arguing this 
question, we do not commit ourselves against the 
doctrine that departed spirits have, in ages past, 
appeared, and do now, from time to time, appear, unto 
men in the flesh. We have now to do with facts of a 
peculiar and special character, and the question is, 
Have we valid evidence that this one class of facts 
has the spirit-origin that is claimed for it ? 



1 86 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



CHAPTER IV. 

POSITIVE AND CONCLUSIVE PROOF THAT ALL THESE 
COMMUNICATIONS AND MANIFESTATIONS ARE 
THE EXCLUSIVE RESULT OF MUNDANE CAUSES, 
AND NOT OF THE AGENCY OF DISEMBODIED 
SPIRITS. 

We believe that we have fully established the propo- 
sitions — that there is in the world around us purely 
mundane causes from which phenomena, in all 
respects similar and analogous to those adduced by 
spiritualists, do arise ; that the former classes of phe- 
nomena are perfectly parallel and similar to the 
latter ; that these so-called spirit-phenomena do occur 
in circumstances in which these mundane causes are 
known to exist and to act ; that a large and essential 
portion of these very phenomena are the exclusive 
result of the action of such causes ; and that, conse- 
quently, we have no occasion to go beyond these 
causes to account for these manifestations in their 
entireness. We have thus rendered it utterly impos- 
sible to prove the spiritualistic hypothesis. Our 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 187 

next proposition yet remains to be established, 
namely, that from these exclusively mundane causes, and 
not from the agency of disembodied spirits, all these 
manifestations do, in fact, proceed. When we shall 
have established this proposition, we shall have 
proved Spiritualism to be exclusively, as far as its 
claims to a spirit-origin are concerned, a system of 
error and delusion. This is what we propose to do. 
It may be important, in this connexion, to remind the 
reader of the precise points of agreement and dis- 
agreement between us and the spiritualists on this 
subject. On all hands it is agreed — that the imme- 
diate cause of these manifestations is some force, by 
whatever name it may be called, a force existing in 
the world around us ; that this force is controlled in 
the production of these phenomena by some intelligent 
cause or causes ; that the cause of a portion of these 
phenomena is the minds in the circles ; that the con- 
trolling cause of the remaining phenomena is the minds 
in the circles, or disembodied spirits out of the same. 
The only difference of opinion which does or can obtain 
pertains exclusively to the location of the cause of the 
residuum of facts last referred to. We maintain that, in 
the production of these communications, this force is 
controlled consciously or unconsciously — for the most 
part unconsciously — by the mental states of the minds 
constituting these circles. Spiritualists, on the other 
hand, maintain that the same facts are determined by 



1 88 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

the mental states of disembodied spirits. Here only do 
we differ, as far as the question at issue in this depart- 
ment of our enquiries is concerned. We will now pro- 
ceed to adduce the evidence in favour of the former, 
and against the latter, hypothesis. The facts and 
arguments which we have to present may be ranged 
under the following classes :— 

I. The admitted fact, that an essential 

PART OF THESE PHENOMENA ARE UNDENIABLY 
ORIGINATED BY EXCLUS EVELY MUNDANE CAUSES, 
REQUIRES, WITHOUT ABSOLUTE PROOF TO THE 
CONTRARY, THAT THEY ALL BE REFERRED TO 
THE SAME CAUSES. 

All the laws of scientific deduction require us, in 
view of the proposition already established, to regard 
as true the hypothesis we maintain, and the opposite 
one as false. Whenever an essential portion of a given 
class of facts, all bearing the same leading character- 
istics, are proved and admitted to have resulted from 
a given cause or causes, it is always assumed as posi- 
tive proof that the remaining portion of said facts 
were produced by the same cause or causes, unless 
the most absolute proof to the contrary is adduced. 
Especially is this the case when it has been shown that, 
by a reference to this specific cause or causes, all the 
facts alike can be readily accounted for. In our pre- 
ceding discussions, it has been proved (i) that some 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 189 



of these manifestations are produced exclusively by 
the minds in the circles, and not by spirits out of them \ 
and (2) that this one cause, in the circumstances sup- 
posed, is all that is requisite to account for all these 
manifestations. It would, therefore, be a violation of 
all the laws of scientific deduction to attribute any 
of these phenomena to any other cause. This con- 
clusion is undeniable, 

II. NO NEW, AND NONE BUT EXCLUSIVELY MUN- 
DANE, TRUTHS ARE REPRESENTED IN THESE COM- 
MUNICATIONS. 

The great fact that we next adduce is, in our judg- 
ment, of the most absolutely decisive character con- 
ceivable — the undeniable fact, that no new truths or 
principles are found in these communications.* They 
come to us as affirmed revelations from the highest 
minds, among others, in the immortal spheres. Yet 
they are, in fact, no revelations at all. They are, 
on the other hand, a mere chaos of truth and error, 
with which the world was familiar before. We hazard 
nothing in affirming that amid all these manifestations 
there is not a solitary new truth, or new fundamental 
principle pertaining to the universe of matter or spirit, 
although "the spirits" present themselves as most 

* We here distinguish, of course, between mere information per- 
taining to matters of fact, and important truths and principles. It is to 
the latter that we now refer. 



I go Phenomena of Spirititalism 

benevolent, self-sacrificing, and indispensably-needed 
guides, in reference to both. They come to free men 
from error, and to " guide them into all truth," and 
then they simply re-affirm all forms of mere human 
opinions in reference to this world and the next, and 
that without revealing to us a solitary new truth, or 
presenting us with a solitary new principle by which 
we can distinguish truth from error. They come to 
enlarge the sphere of human science and discovery, 
and then, as far as they assert anything that is true, 
simply follow iniquis paribus, in the track of human 
research and discovery. If there is anything that we 
can know a priori of such minds as Francis Bacon's, 
if they should, after dwelling for centuries amid the 
illuminations of eternity, descend to earth, as our 
guides and teachers, it is this, that they would not 
only impart to us new truths, but higher and more 
perfect forms of thinking than those with which all 
the world are perfectly familiar. Especially may we 
affirm, with absolute certainty, that such minds, 
instead of giving utterance to such truths and such 
thoughts, would not retail, as forms of the highest 
wisdom, the senseless gossip of every-day thinking 
among men. How self-evident is the truth of the 
saying of the forerunner of Christ : " He that is of the 
earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth : he that 
cometh from heaven is above all." Now we have, in 
the spirit-manifestations, the professed teachings of the 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 191 



very class of heaven-descended minds referred to ; 
and what have we in these revelations ? All possible 
characteristics of an origin purely and exclusively 
earthly, and nothing else. We should, therefore, be 
guilty of the highest folly should we attribute them to 
any higher origin. Since the mission of "the spirits' 5 
commenced, great advance has been made in scientific 
research and discovery, in respect to very important 
principles and facts pertaining to the earth and the 
heavens, and that in reference to realities about which 
u the spirits " have largely discoursed, and about 
which it is absurd to suppose those who are affirmed 
to have come from heaven to teach us were ignorant. 
Yet they never have anticipated the advance of human 
research and discovery, but have very tamely followed 
it. The Poughkeepsie Seer, after being reminded of 
the fact that many new planets had been discovered 
since his " Divine revelations " were given forth- — 
revelations in which he affirmed himself about to 
reveal every "visible and invisible existence," was 
asked why it was that he had not anticipated the 
march of human discovery by announcing beforehand 
the existence and location of these planets. The 
prophet was silent, of course. We put the same ques- 
tion in reference to "the spirits.''' If they are from 
heaven, why have they not anticipated the march 
of scientific research and discovery, which they pro- 
fessedly come to perfect and hasten ? The reason, 



192 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

and the only reason, is, that these revelations are 
mere human thoughts unconsciously re-affirmed by 
spirits in the body, and not what they are by some 
supposed to be, revelations from spirits out of the body. 
The great and undeniable fact before us admits of 
no other explanation. 

It remains with spiritualists to deny the statements 
above made, and to prove them false, by adducing 
the truths and principles whose reality is denied, or 
to account for the facts affirmed, and in that case 
admitted, consistently with the claims of their theory. 
The former we are quite sure they will not attempt to 
do ; the latter we know absolutely is an impossibility. 
Whatever inexplicable facts may be connected with 
these manifestations, the total absence of any new 
truths or principles, and the undeniable presence in 
them of mere pre-existing human opinions only, ren- 
der demonstrably evident their exclusively mundane 
origin. It is the height of folly to refer mere mun- 
dane facts to extra-mundane causes. A greater ab- 
surdity cannot be conceived of than to suppose that 
the great minds from the upper spheres have de- 
scended to earth, to retail as new and eternal verities 
old and hackneyed thoughts with which mankind 
have been familiar for ages. 

III. All these communications take specific 

FORM FROM THE KNOWN SENTIMENTS OF THE PAR- 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 193 

TICULAR CIRCLES IN WHICH SAID COMMUNICATIONS 
ORIGINATE. 

Another fact equally decisive of the question of 
the origin of these manifestations is this : the 
opinions and sentiments revealed in them uniformly 
take form from, and correspond with, those peculiar 
to the particular circles in which they originate. In 
China, " the spirits " — for they have spirit-circles 
there — are all followers of Confucius. In Siam, they 
are equally devoted Buddhists. In Hindostan, they 
are worshippers of Juggernaut. In Christendom, 
they are Catholic or Protestant, Christian or Infidel, 
Churchmen or Dissenters, Orthodox or Heterodox, 
of all opinions and no opinions, just according to 
the peculiar complexion of the circles in which they 
appear. This is true, not only of different classes 
of spirits, but equally of the same identical spirits. 
Take any spirit that can be named, and introduce 
him into each circle on earth in succession, and he 
will affirm, as only true, the peculiarities of opinion 
existing in each circle, and as positively deny every 
opposite opinion, though he has, for thousands of 
times, asserted its truth before. This he will do 
with the most unblushing effrontery, boldly denying, 
in every circle, that he has ever, since he entered 
the spirit-land, changed his opinions, or at any time, 
or in any place, contradicted his present teachings. 
There is not a solitary form or shade of human 

13 



194 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

belief, the denial of the existence of spirits excepted 
— a form of belief held by Christian, Turk, or Infidel 
— which has not been absolutely affirmed and denied 
by the same authority. " The spirits," and the same 
individuals among them too, take all sides of every 
question just as occasion requires, advocating, in 
succession, the peculiar doctrines of each circle that 
chances or chooses to call upon them. We have 
our orthodox circles, in which all the peculiarities 
of the evangelical faith are solemnly affirmed, with- 
out contradiction, by every spirit that appears 
among them. In one circle, in the city of Cleve- 
land, we had all the physical and mental manifesta- 
tions that can be obtained anywhere else. In the 
town of Madison, Geauga county, Ohio, during the 
progress of a revival of religion, the minister became 
a spiritualist. He found a medium of the same 
faith with himself. A perfectly orthodox circle was 
thus formed, into which the oldest and strongest 
Universalists and Infidels were introduced, and as 
from their own children, relatives, and friends, were 
assured that their sentiments were all wrong, and 
that under their influence they were descending, 
with infallible certainty, to the gulf of eternal death. 
The spirit of a Deacon Branch, who, for many years, 
had lived in the place, and had died there in the 
esteem and confidence of all, appeared in the circle. 
Between him and the unbelievers the most solemn 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 195 

communications, to the following import, passed :— 
Tell us, Deacon Branch, is what is affirmed in the 
Bible and by Christians, of heaven and hell, 
true ? It is. Is hell as terrible a place as it is 
represented to be ? Far more so. What must we 
do to escape it? You must "repent and believe 
on the Lord Jesus Christ." In that circle " the 
spirits " affirmed absolutely that all communications 
of an opposite character which had ever been given 
forth in any spirit-circles were exclusively from 
" the father of lies " and his agents, and were given 
forth for the fell purpose of deceiving men, to their 
eternal ruin. Yet in no circle in the wide world 
has there ever been given more conclusive evidence 
of the presence and teachings of disembodied spirits. 
A friend of ours, for example, entered that circle 
in company with his wife. They had buried two 
children, in different towns, in another state, and were 
perfectly certain that none present but themselves 
knew anything about those children. Yet their 
names, one or both having double names, the places 
of their birth and burial, their ages, even to the 
specific number of years, months, weeks, days, etc., 
were given forth with perfect correctness. At length 
"the spirits " found, in this place, another medium 
of different and opposite sentiments, and round her 
formed a circle of corresponding character. In this 
circle, they unitedly affirmed, the spirit of Deacon 



196 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

Branch among the rest, that no spirits at all had, 
at any time, made any communications what- 
ever in the orthodox circle. Deacon Branch, how- 
ever, immediately reappeared in the circle last 
named, and solemnly affirmed, in a communication 
to his own son, in whose house the sceptical circle 
was meeting at the time referred to, that he had 
had no connexion at all with the communications 
which had thus been sent forth from the latter 
circle as from him. Such is the state of facts the 
world over. In the infidel and kindred circles, the 
spirits of orthodox ministers appear, and with ex- 
pressions of. the deepest regret, abjure their earthly 
teachings and ministrations. In the few orthodox 
circles, — and we could multiply them by thousands 
and tens of thousands ; yes, we could fill the world 
with spirit- voices if we chose, — Infidels and Uni- 
versalists of every grade, as from the world of 
despair, affirm every article of the orthodox faith, 
and abjure their own earthly opinions, as being 
nothing else than " the doctrines of devils." Now 
what evidence can be conceived more conclusive of 
the truth of any proposition, than is here presented 
of the exclusive mundane origin of these communi- 
cations, in the two undeniable facts before us, namely, 
that in these communications none but mundane 
opinions appear, and that the former vary as the 
latter do? No questions pertaining to this world, 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed, 197 

or the next, can be settled by any evidence what- 
ever, if this question is not to be admitted as settled 
by the evidence before us. 

We will, however, give one additional fact — a 
fact witnessed, as stated in the public prints, several 
years since, by an English gentleman while in New 
Zealand. The mediums were an old woman and 
her son, who were living together in a miserable flat- 
roofed hut When the proper conditions were ful- 
filled, the mediums most earnestly called upon their 
god to manifest himself, and convince the stranger 
of the truth of their religion. At length the sound 
of footsteps was heard on the roof of the hut, and 
finally, in a manner unaccountable to the stranger, 
an inhuman voice proclaimed the presence of the 
god, and the truth of the religion of the mediums. 
The same undeniably obtains throughout the wide 
world. We can obtain from "the spirits," and from 
the same identical spirits, an absolute affirmation of 
the truth and falseness of every religion and form 
of belief known on earth ; and these affirmations 
and denials will always accord with the beliefs or 
assumptions of the inquirers, or mediums, at the 
times in which such affirmations and denials are 
given forth. 

IV. Known exceptions confirm the deduc- 
tion UNDER CONSIDERATION. 



198 Phenomena of Spiritualism. 

We now present, as confirmatory of the views 
which we hold on this subject, a class of apparent 
exceptions to the facts above adduced. It is true 
that the answers obtained do not always correspond 
with the sentiments of those w T ho make inquiry, nor 
with those of the majority of the persons present, on 
any given occasion, though this is generally the case. 
An individual, as stated in an extract given above 
from the work of Mr. Ballou, wished to have certain 
disagreeable communications which he had obtained, 
when two mediums were present, reversed. He 
could have his wish when one of them was absent, 
but not when both were present. u He could," in the 
language of the author, " overrule oite of them, sitting 
alone, and get a response to suit himself. But both 
of them together overmatched his psychological 
powers." As is the prevailing psychological power, 
for the moment, such will be the character of the 
responses obtained ; and this power, at times, may 
be with the mass in the circle, in opposition to that 
exerted by individuals, as in the orthodox circle 
above referred to, where sceptics were making 
inquiries; and in some occasional instances, owing 
to peculiar coincidences, it may be with individuals, 
in opposition to the sentiments of the majority. A 
medium, for example, on one occasion, was, in a circle 
in Leroy, N. Y., — a circle which had met to obtain 
communications through her, and which was consti- 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed, 199 

tuted almost, if not quite, exclusively of sceptics. 
As the so-called spirit-influence came upon her, this 
solemn affirmation came out, as from the spirits, " Ye 
must be born again." All were astounded, and none 
more so than the medium. Yet during the entire 
evening, nothing could be obtained from " the spirits," 
whatever questions were asked, and many were, but 
this one sentence, " Ye must be born again." How 
shall this fact be accounted for ? The answer is 
plain. The medium was of orthodox sentiments, and 
had just come from another meeting, in which this 
and kindred truths had been very deeply fixed in her 
thoughts. This would account for the expression of 
that truth, in the first instance. Then its sudden 
and unexpected appearance in the circle would fix all 
minds most intently upon it, so intently, that no 
other thought could find an expression during that 
sitting. Just such facts as these would occasionally 
occur in these circles if our theory were true, and 
would not occur if that of Spiritualism were true. 
Such exceptions, therefore, confirm instead of contra- 
dict the conclusion deduced from the important 
facts included in the last two classes above presented. 

V. The character of the affirmed spirit- 
thoughts, AS CONTRASTED WITH THE KNOWN LIFE- 
THOUGHTS OF INDIVIDUALS, EVINCE THE FORMER AS 
HAVING NONE BUT A MUNDANE ORIGIN. 



200 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

There is still another characteristic of many of 
these revelations which renders demonstrably evident 
the fact that they cannot come from the spirits to 
whom they are referred ; and if they do not come 
from these, we are bound to suppose that they do 
not come from any spirits at all, and thus discredit 
the whole theory of spirit-manifestations. We have 
professed revelations from minds such as Bacon, who 
have been progressing for centuries in light and 
knowledge, amid the revelations of eternity. We 
have also the recorded ideas of the same minds upon 
the same themes, while they were in the body. We 
have, then, here a fair opportunity to compare their 
present and past mental condition and capacities. 
What is the conclusion to which any intelligent and 
candid mind must come, as the result of such careful 
comparison ? It is this and no other — that if it is 
really and truly the author of the great Organon who 
is speaking in the work given forth as from him and 
other kindred spirits, by Judge Edmonds and his 
associates, that mind cannot but be in a state of 
absolute and hopeless idiotcy, before it has been 
among " the spirits " for two centuries longer. We 
made this remark some time since to a very intelli- 
gent lawyer, who had publicly defended, and that 
with great ability, the doctrine of the spirit-manifes- 
tations, and who had read with much interest the 
work referred to. "I must admit/' his reply was, 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 201 

"that you are right there;" and no intelligent man 
who is acquainted with the writings of Bacon can 
come to any other conclusion. The posterity of that 
man, if any exist, ought to be able to obtain heavy 
damages in a suit for slander against these individ- 
uals, for attributing such thoughts to their great 
ancestor. We hazard little in affirming that it is 
about as reasonable to suppose that Michael the 
archangel is the author of the celebrated work 
entitled " The House that Jack Built," and that 
this is the highest production that he could originate, 
as to suppose that it is the spirit of the immortal 
Bacon that is communicating in the senseless pro- 
duction referred to. So, in other instances, we have 
seen essays from the spirit of the great Franklin, on 
electricity; essays given forth through the best of 
mediums, and which have all the evidence that he is 
their author, that any of these revelations do that 
they come from any spirits at all ; essays com- 
mencing very much like the composition of a certain 
tyro on perseverance, namely, " Perseverance is the 
best thing that ever happened to man," and bearing 
throughout marks of corresponding perfection of 
thought and style. One fact is undeniable to any 
intelligent and unprejudiced mind, in regard to these 
manifestations, namely, " the spirits " are not speak- 
ing in them at all, or their progression is altogether 
in the direction of idiotcy, and nowhere else. Con- 



202 Phe?iomena of Spiritualism 



sider, as proof of these statements, what follows 
under the next class of facts adduced. 

VI. Revelations which do not, as contrasted 

WITH THOSE WHICH DO, ORIGINATE IN THESE CIR- 
CLES, CONFIRM THE SAME CONCLUSION. 

The information not, as contrasted with that which 
is, communicated in these professed revelations, 
presents another undoubted indication of the non- 
spirit-origin of these communications. According 
to the fundamental teachings of "the spirits," if 
such are the intelligences responding to our inquiries 
in these communications, we are all continuously 
surrounded with guardian spirits, who deeply sym- 
pathize with us in our joys and sorrows, our pleasures 
and sufferings mental and physical, and who are able 
to communicate to us, as they choose, through these 
mediums, any information which they may possess, 
and which might alleviate our sorrows or increase 
our joys, by being communicated to us. Now, if 
these communications do proceed from this source, 
such, we may safely conclude, would be their cha- 
racter, and we should find by experience that here 
is an available and reliable source of information on 
such subjects. Now, this is the precise kind of 
information which cannot be obtained through " the 
spirits." As a source of information, it is not an 
available one, on the one hand, nor a reliable one, 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed, 203 



on the other. Hundreds of thousands of families 
and individuals in England and France, for example, 
had their husbands, sons, brothers, and endeared 
relations in the Crimea, and were under the most 
agonizing apprehensions, of course, in regard to their 
condition, and that while all individual communi- 
cations were for long periods suspended. In the 
greatest agony of apprehension, wives, parents, 
brothers, sisters, and " nearer and dearer ones/' 
rushed to the spirit-circles, and entreated " the 
spirits M to relieve that agony by giving the informa- 
tion desired. What an opportunity was here pre- 
sented in which " the spirits," in the presence of the 
world, could, by manifesting their sympathy with 
human suffering, and revealing themselves as reliable 
informants on subjects of vital importance, have 
established the claims of Spiritualism immovably in 
the high regard of mankind. What an opportunity, 
also, to reveal themselves to the heart of grateful 
nations, as being really and truly what their apostles 
affirm them to be, the guardian spirits of humanity. 
But no. To all appeals made to their compassion 
by agonizing sufferers, they stood revealed, exclu- 
sively, as "dumb dogs," from whom no responses 
could be obtained. This ominous silence indicates a 
total ignorance of what guardian spirits ought to 
have known, or a most barbarous, if not fiendish, 
indifference and callousness to human suffering. All 



204 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

the world are aware of the living death which Lady 
Franklin has been enduring these many years, and 
how deeply the great heart of England and of Chris- 
tendom has sympathized with her mental agony. 
Why have not her guardian spirits sped to those 
northern regions, and brought back the intelligence 
which would relieve that mind from that heart-sick- 
ness which arises from " hope deferred " ? Why has 
not the spirit of the lost one, if alma lax, the light of 
life, has departed, winged his way to the sufferer at 
home, and revealed his fate to her? Why, to say 
the least, did not some of his or of his associates' 
guardian spirits fly to her with the information which 
she so much desired ? It would seem that they must 
have got fast frozen up in some of those ice moun- 
tains, or that they must carry hearts of ice in their 
bosoms. Where was the spirit or guardian spirits 
of Emma Moore, or those of her agonized friends^ 
that from none of them were tidings brought to those 
friends during the interval between the time of her 
disappearance and the discovery of her body, of her 
untimely end ? When the fell seducer, as a stealthy 
boa constrictor, is following the footsteps of unsus- 
pecting innocence, why do not these guardian spirits, 
who can read even the secret thoughts and purposes 
of men, reveal to the intended victim the perils which 
encircle her ? Years ago, a proclamation was pro- 
fessedly sent forth from the spirit-world, that if 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 205 

thieves and robbers and murderers and seducers did 
not cease their doings, the spirits, who had a full 
knowledge of human conduct, would reveal the 
authors and perpetrators of crime to the ministers of 
justice. All this these " guardian spirits" are pro- 
fessedly able to do. Why have they not done it ? 
Such revelations have been made by means of 
clairvoyance, and even by dreams. Why do not 
"the spirits" show their love to the race by perform- 
ing such promised offices ? Why do not the spirits 
of murdered persons reveal facts, in these circles, 
which will lead to the detection of the murderers ? 
The spirits appear to have no hearts for such forms 
of well-doing as these. As informants of facts to 
us unknown, the revelations of "the spirits" have 
very different and opposite characteristics, Let us 
consider a few of these revelations. 

The following wondrous facts we take from the 
Spiritual Telegraph, the leading organ of the sect 
in the city of New York. We give the statements 
as quoted from that paper in the Evening Post, 
with the introductory remarks of the editor of the 
latter paper. 

" The believers in rappings and communications 
from the ' land of spirits ' are increasing in this 
city. Private families, in circles of from six to 
a dozen persons, nightly indulge in the 'grave 
amusement' A regular organization meets every 



206 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

Sunday at Dodworth's Hall, in Broadway, next 
to Grace Church, where anyone is allowed to give 
his views on the subject. 

" Conferences are also held during the day and 
evening each week at the head-quarters of the 
spiritualists in Broadway, near Prince Street. At 
the assemblies many ' tough yarns ' are told. The 
Spiritual Telegraph, the organ of the ' faith ' in 
this city, gives us some samples of recent occur- 
rence. It says : — 

" ' A gentleman from New Haven related the 
following : A Mr. Fairfield, a medium, was some 
weeks ago sent from Springfield, Mass., to the 
house of a Mr. Barnes, another medium, in Fair- 
haven (a village near New Haven), Conn. He 
knew not the purpose of his mission, and when 
he got to the house of Mr. Barnes, found he had 
not money enough left in his purse to pay his 
fare home. On the evening of the same day he 
and Mr. Barnes were both simultaneously entranced, 
when they put on their overcoats and went out. 
Our informant, who was present, followed them. 
They went up the road some distance and stopped, 
when Mr. Barnes began to scratch in the snow, , 
which was about three inches deep, as if in search 
for something. 

" ' Presently he grasped something in his hand, 
and they both returned to the house, where, on 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 207 

opening his hand to the light, it was found to 
contain two quarter eagles, which, in obedience to 
the spiritual impulse, were divided equally between 
the two mediums. They went out again, our 
informant following them as before ; and when 
they came directly in front of a certain church, 
they began to grope in the snow again, and digging 
out a board which had been covered up. they threw 
it aside. They then commenced a search where 
the board had lain ; as the hand of one of them 
was passing to a particular spot, the narrator dis- 
tinctly saw a small object lying there, w r hich on 
being picked up proved to be a silver coin — a 
quarter of a dollar, if we remember. 

" ' They then went and scratched in the snow 
and dirt on the steps of the Odd Fellows' hall, 
and found another coin.' " 

There is a medium in the state of Ohio, of whom 
it is affirmed, in illustration of the new things 
revealed by a the spirits," that at times, when under 
their inspiration, he will walk for miles with his eyes 
shut, passing, in the mean time, over fences and 
through forests, till he arrives at a particular place, 
when he will order, in the name of "the spirits," 
those who have accompanied him to dig dow r n at 
a certain spot which he designates, They do so, 
and find at length some dry bones, an Indian 
hatchet, and other pieces of old iron of equal value. 



2Q8 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

A very intelligent spiritualist told us that he had 
been present and witnessed these very wonders. 

Such are " the spirits " as informants of facts 
which we do not know. We do not affirm that no 
higher facts are ever revealed in these communica- 
tions. These, however, are fair examples of what 
we do obtain, spiritualists themselves giving the 
record. If these revelations are from disembodied 
spirits, judging from what they do and what they do 
not reveal, we affirm, without fear of contradiction, 
that they are, almost without exception, beings of the 
most debased morality and demented intelligence, 
and that to regard such communications as coming 
from the inhabitants of the immortal spheres, tends 
to produce nothing in us but corresponding debase- 
ment and dementation. 

Before closing our remarks on the class of facts 
now under consideration, we should make the fol- 
lowing undeniable statement in regard to them, a 
statement which has a very important and decisive 
bearing upon the question of their origin. The 
statement is this : most of the cases of this kind 
reported to the public have been, and are, found, on 
careful inquiry, to have either no foundation in fact, 
or to be characterized by very great exaggerations, 
while the well-authenticated cases are very few, much 
fewer than we should expect from the myriads of 
sources from which these manifestations proceed, 



Scientifically Explaiiied and Exposed. 209 

even supposing them not to be given forth by 
disembodied spirits at all. In listening to the 
popular lecturers on Spiritualism, we find, as they 
approach this class of facts, that they uniformly 
begin by telling their hearers that they could 
spend the whole night in relating cases which they 
themselves have witnessed personally, and then 
out will come the old pen-knife story, and other 
hackneyed facts of a similar character. How few 
are the cases related by Mr. Ballou, and other great 
defenders of this new faith, and how far do they 
have to travel to collect even these! To us, after 
having investigated the nature of the power by 
which these manifestations are produced, there is 
but one matter of surprise, namely, that this class of 
manifestations are not, in the spirit-circles, of more 
frequent occurrence than they are. 

VII. The general intellectual character 

OF THESE COMMUNICATIONS DEMONSTRATE THEIR 
NON-SPIRIT ORIGIN. 

The general character of these communications, 
considered in a mere intellectual point of view, in 
comparison with the productions of minds in the 
body, precludes wholly the supposition that they 
are from disembodied spirits. Communications 
coming from the high spheres above, we cannot 
but know, as we have already observed, would move 



210 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

upon a level altogether above the highest forms of 
thinking among men in the flesh. We cannot but 
be mentally and morally degraded ourselves to 
entertain any other ideas of a future state. Suppose 
that we have masses and floods of communications 
professedly descending to us from those high spheres, 
communications which, while they contain nothing 
new, not only never rise above the higher forms of 
mundane thinking, but almost, if not quite, invariably 
fall incomparably below them; very seldom, indeed, 
rising above mere commonplace, and more frequently 
embodying the most senseless puerilities conceivable. 
What higher evidence can we have of an exclusively 
mundane origin, than is thus presented ? When we 
will consent to receive such forms of thinking as from 
spirits, spirits, too, from the higher celestial spheres, 
as these are generally affirmed to come, we consent 
to our own mental and moral degradation, and volun- 
tarily subject ourselves to influences of all others 
most efficient to produce that result. We will cite a 
few passages as examples of " spirit-wisdom/* Our 
citations are exclusively from books advertised in the 
Spiritual Telegraph of New York, as among the 
standard spiritual productions which are kept for 
sale at that office, books embraced in the catalogue, 
to all of which the " reader's attention is particularly 
invited." In a communication of upwards of forty 
pages from George Washington, a communication 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 2 1 1 

contained in a book entitled " Love and Wisdom 
from the Spirit World/' we find the following impor- 
tant announcement : " If men were governed by 
love, truth, wisdom, and harmony, then they would 
be under one grand, universal government of peace 
and harmony." No one can fail, we think, to under- 
stand the important principle here affirmed by the 
father of our country, and it is certainly just as true 
as the momentous proposition that an oyster is an 
oyster. Further on we are told that in order that 
mankind may " become acquainted with the natural 
and spiritual laws which govern their own being," 
knowledge requisite to " enjoy peace, harmony, and 
happiness/' " it is necessary that they obtain light on 
these important subjects." The meaning of the last 
part of the following sentence is not to us quite so 
plain as the foregoing : " These glorious realities/' 
the blessings of one universal brotherhood among 
men, " cannot be enjoyed until there is a general 
reformation in all governments, laws, institutions, and 
modes of teaching the generation together with the 
present." At the head of the address, presenting 
throughout corresponding perfection of thought and 
style, we have a likeness of the author, a likeness at 
the bottom of which we find a scrap of poetry, m _.de 
by Washington himself, as we are given to under- 
stand, for the express purpose of accompanying that 
likeness. The poetry reads as follows : — 



212 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



" When the likeness of this portrait you see, 
Remember that it is to represent the likeness of me ; 
But the spirit in its brightness you cannot see, 
For that is far above the likeness of thee. 

G. Washington." 

The likeness of Franklin, which stands, in the 
book above named, at the head of a long essay from 
him on " Progression of the Mineral, Vegetable, Ani- 
mal, and Spiritual Kingdoms/' is also accompanied 
by the following lines, composed by that great mind, 
in his " angePs home." 

" The likeness of this portrait is to represent 
The likeness of man when he dwelt here below, 
But the likeness of the spirit you would like to know, 
And this would be no more than I would like to show : 
But the mind is not prepared the likeness for to see 
Of the spirit in his angel's home as bright as we. 

B. Franklin." 

" The elevated spirits " communicating in this 
book affirm, we are told, that they " impressed 
every word and sentence " found in it upon the 
medium's mind before it was written. We have then 
here, it would seem, an infallible criterion by which 
we can judge of the progression of these minds in 
" love and wisdom " during their residence in the* 
celestial spheres. From another work, entitled 
" Light from the Spirit World," we take the follow- 
ing specimens of spirit-thinking and composition. 
An essay on Wisdom commences thus : — 

" Wisdom is w r hat is wise, and what is wise is 
wisdom. Wisdom is not folly, and folly is not 



\ 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 213 

wisdom. Wisdom is not selfishness, and selfishness 
is not wisdom. Wisdom is not evil, and evil is not 
wisdom." Again: "Wisdom is wisdom. All is not 
wisdom. All is not folly." Further on we are told 
that if we would get wisdom, those of us who have it 
not, we must "get it where it is to be found." For 
ourselves, much as we value this priceless treasure, 
we feel very little inclined to resort to " the spirits " 
to get it, though we can obtain from them the great 
truth that, u Men are what they are," together with 
the momentous information that, " Change is altera- 
tion/' and although they assure us that they come to 
us, " in wisdom which is from heaven," " with glad 
tidings on their tongues, with the rainbow of promise 
over their heads, with the cup of salvation in their 
hands, with the wine of consolation to the mourner, 
and the balm of healing to the sorrow-stricken and 
despondent." We must give one additional quota- 
tion. The essay "On Works" thus commences: 
"Works are the doings of a worker. Indolence is 
not work. Industry is work. Industry, accompanied 
with wisdom, works a wise work. Wisdom works 
wisely, and the works of wisdom are not works of 
vanity." The medium through whom these great 
thoughts are communicated to us assures us that 
" the spirits " express themselves, after reviewing 
what they have here communicated, well satisfied 
with their work. In a work entitled " Discourses 



2 14 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



from the Spirit World, dictated by Steven Olin, 
through Rev. R. P. Wilson, writing medium," we 
have the following somewhat original definition of 
the phrase " the kingdom of God : " — 

u By the phrase ' kingdom of God ' is meant, 
I. The most internal essence, or the love, wisdom, 
and will principles. 2. The subordinate principles 
of expansion, attraction, and circulation. 3. The 
agencies of heat, light, and electricity. These prin- 
ciples and agencies constitute the realm of this 
kingdom, with reference to its internal nature and 
relations." So much for the theological lore of "the 
spirits," for their wondrous insight into the secrets of 
spiritual wisdom and knowledge. 

We shall not multiply quotations further. We 
contend that what we have presented is not an un- 
fair representation of the real wisdom of " the spirits." 
For ourselves, we have searched in vain among these 
communications, and we have examined the works 
commended to our regard by the best informed 
spiritualists in the country, as among the fundamental 
and standard spirit-productions ; we have searched in 
vain, we say, among all these productions for a new 
or a great thought. We have found, almost without 
exception, forms of thinking far below those which 
appear in the ordinary productions of men in the 
flesh, and which do not shock all our hallowed senti- 
ments, and debase all our conceptions, in regard to 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 2 1 5 

immortality, when received as from spirits inhabiting 
the celestial spheres. A friend of ours, Hon. George 
Bradburn, as he has affirmed before the public, has 
read upwards of six thousand pages of these pro- 
ductions, and has turned from them with the iden- 
tical impressions above stated. They have absolutely 
none of the characteristics which we cannot but 
know they would have did they come to us from 
spirits standing amid the high revelations of eter- 
nity. On the other hand, they have all the marks, 
and none other, of an origin purely and exclusively 
mundane. For example: 1. None but mundane 
thoughts are here embodied, thoughts which vary in 
their forms with the opinions of the circles in which 
they originate. 2. These communications present the 
precise kinds of thinking which we know would pro- 
ceed from the surface of minds in the very passive and 
unthinking state in which mediums affirm themselves 
to be, when they suppose themselves under the inspi- 
ration of the spirits ; and which can proceed from 
no other source. We find just such thoughts as these 
in these communications, and little else. 3. All the 
peculiarities of style and manner which characterize 
the mediums, and those who are around them, when 
communicating, are embodied in these communica- 
tions. No spirit, from any sphere, can spell correctly, 
speak grammatically, or utter anything but sense- 
less puerilities, when communicating through certain 



2 1 6 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

mediums. 4. We find all the peculiarities of senti- 
ment, forms of expression, and mere ignorance of 
the mediums and spirit-circles reflected in these 
productions. We find, for example, in a communi- 
cation given forth as from the spirits, through Mrs. 
Fish, when in Cleveland, such expressions as the 
following : " Go, sit under the teachings of that 
orthodox D.D., who says that all these rappings and 
other physical manifestations are humbugs," etc. 
Again : " This conclusion that all these spiritual 
manifestations are a humbug, because spirits cannot 
have power to make such manifestations, strikes 
their own pretended faith flat in the face." There 
is one fact which has struck our minds with peculiar 
interest, in reading these works. Whenever the in- 
quirer asks questions of the spirits, pertaining to 
subjects which real spirits must be acquainted with, 
but of which he is ignorant, and about which he 
is perplexed, we always find that the spirits here 
responding not only do not know anything more 
than he does, but that his ignorance and perplexity 
are reflected in the responses which he obtains ; thus 
indicating most decisively that the inquirer, and he 
only, is answering his own questions. The follow- 
ing we give, as examples, from Rev. H. Snow's work 
entitled " Spirit Intercourse " :— 

" Can you give any idea of the manner in which 
spirits converse ? 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 217 

"You had better not attempt to penetrate so 
deeply into our affairs, for it can be of no use to you. 
There is, however, with us a common and universal 
method of holding intercourse, but of which you can 
form no just idea until you are permitted to make 
use of it. 

" Are there any evil-disposed or mischievous spirits 
that have it in their power to approach and com- 
municate with us ? 

" You cannot fully understand what you wish to 
know upon this subject either. It is not in our 
power to enlighten you much in this respect. 

" Can it be explained, without implying deception 
on the part of spirits, how great men are said to be pre- 
sent, and to communicate, when what is communicated 
shows plainly that the great men are not present ? 

u You must not think that we can give you all the 
satisfaction you wish on this point. It may be said, 
however, that it is not necessary to suppose deception, 
as there are other ways of accounting for such facts, 
You cannot understand the matter fully." etc. 

Thus it is that every peculiarity in the state of the 
inquirer's mind is perfectly reflected back upon him, 
in the responses which he obtains. If he under- 
stands, is ignorant of, or perplexed about, the subject 
about which he inquires, his own knowledge, igno- 
rance, or perplexity, and nothing else, will be pre- 
sented in the answer obtained. 5. Finally, how great 



2 1 8 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



soever the number, and diverse the character and 
relations of spirits which communicate through one 
and the same medium, the style of each will be one 
and the same with that of all the others, thus show- 
ing that they are the product of one and not of many 
minds. What perfect identity of style, for example, 
characterizes the various productions of different 
minds, professedly communicating their thoughts to 
the world, in the two volumes published by Judge 
Edmonds. We must repudiate all the laws of cri- 
ticism, and ignore the entire dictates of common 
sense, before we can admit that different minds are 
here communicating. So in regard to all of these 
works. The same spirits, communicating through 
different mediums, are wholly unlike themselves, in 
style and manner, and forms of thinking. All minds, 
on the other hand, communicating through the same 
channel, present a perfect unity in these respects. 

There is an apparent exception to the above state- 
ments, an exception which, instead of contradicting, 
really and truly confirms the principle which we have 
assumed. When the medium, or some one present, 
knows the style of the individual whose spirit is pro- 
fessedly communicating, such style will sometimes be 
in some degree copied, though almost without ex- 
ception very imperfectly. So also when an imagi- 
nary character is communicating, such as a news-boy, 
forms of expression which that class of persons are 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 219 

known to use, will sometimes be embodied in the 
communications obtained. In all other cases, we 
believe, and we think we cannot be mistaken, the 
principle under consideration fully obtains. No one 
spirit has anything like a fixed style by which he 
can be identified, as he appears in different circles 
and communicates through different mediums. All 
spirits, on the other hand, with the exceptions above 
named, when communicating in the same circles, and 
through the same mediums, have a perfect identity 
of style ; a style, too, which varies as the character 
of the circles and mediums varies. We noticed, for 
example, some years since, several communications 
purporting to have come from the spirits of Messrs. 
Webster, Calhoun, Clay, and others, communications 
obtained through one of the Miss Foxes in the city 
of New York, and in a circle constituted of such men 
as the Hon. J. R/Giddings. Mr. Calhoun is affirmed 
to have announced his own presence in an elliptical 
style peculiar to himself, namely, " I'jn with you," 
and this was assumed as proof positive of his actual 
presence. It was forgotten that some persons pre- 
sent knew well what were his peculiarities in such 
forms of expression. As soon as he and the others 
began to make formal communications, however, all 
peculiarities of their earthly style and manner dis- 
appeared at once, and all adopted one and the same 
style, a style, too, utterly unlike and infinitely beneath 



220 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

what was so peculiar to each when in the body. 
Now, if such facts as these do not prove the exclu- 
sively mundane origin of these communications, we 
may well ask, what can be established by evidence ? 
We cannot have higher evidence, when standing 
before a mirror, that it is our own image that we see 
reflected there, and that our presence is the cause of 
that reflection, than we have, in such facts as these, 
that these communications are nothing but the re- 
flections of the thoughts of the mediums, and of the 
persons constituting these circles, and are caused by 
those thoughts, and not by those of spirits out 
of the circles. The time is not distant when the 
only sentiment of mystery connected with these 
manifestations will be that in the middle of the 
nineteenth century the belief could have obtained 
among any intelligent portion of the community, that 
such communications could have descended to us 
from the " undiscovered country." 

VIII. Fundamental facts developed by 

INDIVIDUALS THROUGH INQUIRIES MADE FOR SELF- 
SATISFACTION IN REGARD TO THE ORIGIN AND 
CAUSE OF THESE PHENOMENA, INDIVIDUALS WHO 
HAD FORMED NO DEFINITE THEORY UPON THE 
SUBJECT. 

We now refer to an important class of facts which 
have been developed by inquiries put by individuals 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 221 

for the specific purpose of satisfying their own minds 
on the question whether spirits have, as a matter of 
fact, any connexion with these mysterious pheno- 
mena. The inquiries to which we now refer have 
general!, been made by individuals who had formed 
no particular theory upon the subject, and made 
simply for the purpose named. They have assumed, 
and for the best of reasons, that if spirits are really 
and truly responding here, individuals will, of course, 
get no answers, if they call for those who cannot be 
present ; and that if they can get the same answers 
from such spirits that can be obtained from any 
others, and in all respects the same evidence of spirit- 
presence and agency, then Spiritualism, whatever 
else may be true of these facts, must be false. These 
experiments have established undeniably the fact, 
that in all respects the same answers can be elicited, 
and the same evidence of an actual presence as the 
authors and cause of these communications, can be 
obtained from the following classes of spirits, as from 
any others that ever have been or can be evoked, 
namely, from the departed spirits of devils ; from the 
departed spirits of individuals yet alive, or who never 
existed ; from the departed spirits of the lowest 
orders of brute beasts, insects, and reptiles ; and 
finally, from the departed spirits of shrubs and 
stones. All tests of identity, all indications of intelli- 
gence, of a knowledge of our secret thoughts, all 



222 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

forms of information, all kinds of manifestations, 
physical and mental, that can be obtained from any 
spirits whatever, can be obtained from each and 
every class above named. " I don't understand these 
mysterious occurrences/' said the father of a certain 
medium, an honest and intelligent farmer; "but 
there is one thing that I do know about them, and 
that is, that we can obtain just as intelligent answers 
from the spirits of beasts, shrubs, and stones, as from 
any spirits that can be called upon. This I know 
absolutely ; for I have made the experiment myself, 
till I am perfectly satisfied upon the subject." Mr. 
Ballou admits that facts of this kind do occur, and 
attributes their occurrence to a low order of spirits 
who are ready to appear in any characters that men 
desire. "This," he also says, "is the explanation 
given by truthful spirits." This explanation, how- 
ever, is self-contradictory and absurd ; for this low 
order of spirits exhibit all the intelligence that any 
others do. They have the same power to respond to 
our secret thoughts, to answer test questions, and to 
convey information of facts unknown to us. They 
will discourse as profoundly upon all subjects that 
can be named as any others whatever. Now what 
more decisive evidence can we have of any truth than 
is here presented, that these responses do not come 
from spirits ? The facts of the case could not be as 
they are, if invisible intelligent beings were really and 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 223 

truly communicating with us in these manifestations. 
They could not, on the other hand, but be as they 
are, if the spirits constituting the circles were uncon- 
sciously producing the answers which they obtain 
to their own inquiries. In this case, and in this 
alone, any spirit named, whether existing or not 
existing, would give the same responses as any 
other. 

The spiritualist, we know, has an answer ready for 
such facts. . The individual putting such questions, 
he says, is in a dishonest state of mind, and therefore, 
by the law of spiritual communications, draws lying 
spirits to himself, and from these he obtains his 
answers. This answer, if admitted as valid, proves 
far more than the spiritualist intends. It renders 
demonstrably evident one fundamental fact pertain- 
ing to all these communications, the absolute impossi- 
bility of identifying at all any spirits which are com- 
municating with us, if any are. If lying spirits can 
answer as correctly as any others all test questions 
given to identify the spirits who are communicating 
with us, it is absolutely impossible for us to deter- 
mine whether the spirit communicating with us, on 
any given occasion, is not a lying spirit instead of the 
one we suppose. All ground of confidence, therefore, 
in the validity of any of these communications is 
taken away. It cannot be denied that all evidence of 
the reality or validity of all such communications is 



224 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

utterly annihilated by the facts before us, facts which 
cannot be denied. 

But the assumption that the putting of such 
inquiries implies dishonesty in the inquirer, is wholly 
unauthorized. The questions are put for the single 
and honest purpose of determining the fact whether 
these responses do proceed from disembodied spirits 
or not. They are perfectly adapted to secure that 
result, and consequently may be, and no doubt often 
are, put with the most perfect integrity ; a state of 
mind which, if the law of spirit-communication .re- 
ferred to is real, would repel and not draw to itself 
lying spirits. Truth-telling spirits, and they only, 
would be drawn into communication with the inquirer 
to solve his honest doubts. 

The relation of the responses obtained under such 
circumstances to the state of the inquirers mind 
should not be overlooked in this connexion. They 
are always in the fixed relation of consequence to 
that state as antecedent. As is the state, so are the 
responses. As the former changes and varies, so do 
the latter. This is the fixed law of their occurrence. 
If this fact does not reveal the state referred to as the 
cause, and the responses as the effects of the action of 
that cause, and therefore exclude the supposition of 
ab extra spirit-agency, what relations of antecedence 
and consequence can reveal that of cause and effect ? 
None, it must seem, but those who are determined to 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 225 



be deceived can avoid the conclusion which we draw 
from such facts, 

IX. The same responses, and the same evi- 
dence OF SPIRIT-PRESENCE, CAN BE OBTAINED 
FROM THE SPIRITS OF INDIVIDUALS YET ALIVE, 
BUT SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD, AS FROM THE SPIRITS 
OF PERSONS ACTUALLY DEAD. 

There is a class of facts which should not be over- 
looked in this connexion, a class against which no 
objection like that above alluded to can be raised. 
We refer to responses which individuals obtain when 
they, with the most honest desire for true information, 
call for the spirits of friends whom they sincerely sup- 
pose to be dead, but who are yet alive. In all such cases, 
all the evidence of actual presence and identity is 
obtained that is ever obtained in any instances what- 
ever, and inquirers are just as certain to get responses 
when they call for the spirits of such persons, as in 
any other cases. We have two friends, for example, 
one of whom is alive, and the other dead, both of 
whom, however, we, with equal honesty, suppose to be 
in the spirit-world. We are just as sure to get an 
answer when we call for one of these spirits as for the 
other, and we can obtain, in all respects, the same 
evidence of actual presence and identity in one case 
that we can in the other. The facts cannot be denied. 
They would be as these are, if the responses originated 

15 



226 



Phenomena of Spiritualism 



within the circle. Could they be so, if they came 
from spirits out of those circles ? But one answer can 
be given to such a question. 

A child, for example, in an intelligent Christian 
family which we have known for nearly twenty years, 
years since became a table-moving, writing, and rap- 
ping medium. We have ourselves seen phenomena ( 
of the first class, and heard the raps connected with 
that child, and have fully satisfied ourselves that there 
is no intentional deception in the case. The evening 
after the child announced the fact that he was a 
medium, the family formed a circle by themselves, 
and when the rappings commenced, took the alpha- 
bet, and called for the name of the spirit present, if 
any was present, and was producing these mysterious 
sounds. The name of a young man who had been 
for a considerable period a member of the family, 
and had left for New Orleans in the spring of 1854, 
and from whom, though he had promised to write, 
they had never heard since, was given. In answer 
to subsequent enquiries, the following statements 
were all rapped out, namely, that on the 24th of May, 
1854, he had died in New Orleans, of the yellow 
fever. Since that occurrence, that young man has 
reappeared among us, and thereby established the 
fact that he is not dead. In this case every question 
was put with the utmost sincerity, and there was 
nothing whatever to draw responses from lying 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 227 

spirits. Of this, however, the entire family are per- 
fectly aware, that the answers obtained represented 
their own previous convictions of facts, and to those 
convictions they have sense enough to attribute the 
communication which they did obtain. 

A somewhat remarkable case of this kind some 
years ago occurred in Cleveland. A young man 
went from that city to Chicago. From the latter 
city he wrote to his friends that he was to leave that 
place for St. Louis. For upwards of five months 
subsequent to the reception of this letter, no intel- 
ligence whatever was received of him, and it was 
supposed that he was dead. His mother, having 
accompanied a female friend, a devoted spiritualist, to 
the residence of a medium, and while listening to the 
communications which others were then receiving, felt 
something like a human hand grasp her own. as if for 
the purpose of an affectionate salutation. She asked 
the medium what that meant, and was told that it 
was an indication to her that a spirit was present 
who desired to speak to her. To her inquiry who the 
spirit was, the name of her son was given. She was 
then informed, as from him, that on his way down the 
Mississippi, the boat took fire, and he, in his fright, 
leaped overboard and was drowned. "You know, 
mother/ 3 said the spirit, " that while alive, I ridiculed 
Spiritualism. I am exceedingly glad to find it true, 
as I can now communicate with you." The mother 



228 



Phenomena of Spiritualism 



was then requested to call again, at a time named, 
when he would have other important communications 
to make to her. The medium in this case was a 
speaking one, and the mother, though she had never 
met the medium before, nor had ever .heard of her, 
recognised a perfect likeness to her son's voice and 
manner. She called as directed, and received other 
communications. She then called upon two other 
mediums, both total strangers to her, and through 
them also received substantially, as from her son, the 
same messages as before. To the question, How can 
I know that it is really and truly my son communi- 
cating with me ? she was told in reply that he would 
accompany her home, and remain with her there till 
all doubts were removed from her mind. The discon- 
solate mother returned home with the most absolute 
conviction that her son was dead, and that she had 
communed with his spirit. On her arrival, however, 
she was met by that very son, who had returned 
during her absence. He had written home, but none 
of his letters had arrived, and this was the cause of 
the apprehension that he was dead. 

Now this case, which we ourselves obtained directly 
from the family itself, this case, we say, — and others 
of the same character, to any number desired, might 
be adduced, — establishes most unquestionably the fol- 
lowing facts: (i) There was here the most perfect 
honesty and sincerity in the mind of the inquirer, and 



Scientifically Explained a?zd Exposed. 229 



the consequent absence of all causes which, according 
to the principles of Spiritualism, would draw lying 
spirits into rapport with her mind. (2) All con- 
ceivable evidence, physical and mental, of the pre- 
sence of the particular spirit supposed to be present 
was given, that is or can be given in any other case. 
(3) Nothing is requisite to obtain all the evidence 
of the actual presence of the disembodied spirits of 
individuals who are yet alive, that can be obtained in 
reference to that of any person who is dead, but an 
honest conviction on the part of the inquirer that the 
living individual, whose spirit is called for, is actually 
dead. (4) To suppose that lying spirits can thus 
personate other minds, and none other, if any do, can 
respond, in such cases, is to annihilate all evidence 
that any other can have that he has ever communi- 
cated with any particular spirit, on any occasion 
whatever, on the one hand, and that all these com- 
munications, if from spirits at all, are not from "the 
father of lies" or his agents, on the other. (5) We 
need suppose no other cause for such responses but 
the state of the inquirer's mirid, in the circumstances 
actually existing, to account for all the facts which 
here present themselves. The recollection of her son 
would, of course, be very vivid in the mother's mind, 
and this would give form to the words, voice, and 
manner of the medium. (6) It would be the height 
of absurdity, consequently, to refer such communica- 



230 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



tiohs to any ab-extra spirit-cause. (7) If such are not, 
and no one will pretend that they are, to be referred 
to the agency of " the spirits/' it would be a monstrous 
absurdity to refer any other of these communications 
to such agency. (8) No tactual impressions, no like- 
ness in these communications to the voice, style, or 
manner of persons living or dead, can be any real 
proof of the truth of Spiritualism. 

X. Similar responses are obtained in these 

CIRCLES, BY DEVOTED SPIRITUALISTS, FROM THE 
SPIRITS OF PERSONS ACTUALLY ALIVE, BUT SUP- 
POSED TO BE DEAD. 

We now adduce a class of facts perfectly similar 
to those above named, and which occur under cir- 
cumstances that entirely free them from all the 
objections that can be raised, even by spiritualists, 
against the conclusions undeniably deducible from 
them. We refer to responses obtained in these 
circles by devoted spiritualists themselves, answers 
purporting to come from individuals supposed, and 
honestly supposed, to be dead, but who are yet alive, 
or never existed at all. Here, of course, there is 
the most perfect integrity in the inquirer's state of 
mind, and the consequent total absence of all causes 
to induce the presence and action of lying spirits. 
In precisely such circumstances, just the same kind 
of communications are obtained, and all test ques- 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 231 

tions put to identify " the spirits " communicating 
are answered with the same correctness as in any 
other instances. A very striking case of this kind 
came under our own observation. A friend of ours 
was believed by herself, her physicians, and by all 
around her, to be in the very last stages of consump- 
tion, within one or two weeks, at the utmost, of 
death. At this time she was visited by a number 
of relatives, who were most devoted spiritualists, 
and who took very great pains, but without success, 
to interest her in the subject. She was feasting on 
more substantial realities than " the spirits " revealed 
to her. These individuals took their final leave of 
our friend, and returned to their distant homes with 
the most undoubted conviction that in a very few 
days she would be in eternity. A few weeks sub- 
sequently, the husband of our friend received from 
those individuals a letter containing a special and 
affectionate communication from the spirit of his 
departed wife, — a communication obtained from that 
identical spirit and none other, in the spirit-circles 
which these individuals attended. In that circle 
they inquired if the spirit of that supposed to have 
been dying, and consequently then dead, friend, 
was present. The answer was, yes. After all proofs 
of identity were given that are ever required, and 
all the circumstances of our friend's departure and 
her then happy state were given, a wish was ex- 



232 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

pressed by her to send a communication of conso- 
lation, etc., to the bereaved husband that was left 
behind. This communication was then given and for- 
warded, as stated above. It so happened that that 
very disembodied spirit thus identified, and thus com- 
municating with the living, was then with her husband 
in the body, and to the wonder of all around is yet 
alive, with a prospect of seeing years to come. 

A very notable case of a similar character ap- 
peared in the public prints, as connected with Judge 
Edmonds and others. In a certain paper in the 
interests of Spiritualism, and published in California, 
a paper called The Pioneer, a professedly spirit-com- 
munication appeared, as from the spirit of a Mr. 
Lane. This communication was subsequently in- 
dorsed by " the spirits " in a spirit-circle as a genuine 
spirit production. It w 7 as then forwarded to Judge 
Edmonds, who forwarded to The Pioneer a com- 
munication which he had obtained, in the city of 
New York, from the spirit of this same Mr. Lane. 
On the appearance of this last communication, an 
editor of another California paper published the 
fact that he was well informed about Mr. Lane 
and his communications, that no such person ever 
had existed, and that the communication which first 
appeared in The Pio?ieer was of an exclusively 
mundane origin. Yet this very spirit appeared to 
Judge Edmonds, with all the evidence of an actual 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 233 

presence and identity, that , he ever had of that of 
Bacon or any other spirit. 

We recently met with a very intelligent Christian 
lady who utterly repudiates the claims of Spirit- 
ualism, a lady who was left a widow by the cele- 
brated William Leggett of New York, and whose 
present husband is a devoted spiritualist. While a 
circle was being held in her own parlour, her 
husband being a member of it, and she sitting in 
another part of the room, and no one in the circle 
could obtain any communication at all, the question 
was asked, whether there was any spirit present that 

wished to communicate with Mrs. . Instantly a 

number of very loud raps were heard upon the top of 
the table. She was earnestly requested to enter the 
circle and receive communications. On her refusal 
to comply, individuals in the circle put questions 
themselves, and received ready answers to all their 
inquiries. The spirit responding purported to be 

that of a brother of Mrs. , a brother who had 

sailed some twenty years ago as the commandant of 
a vessel, from the port of New York, and had never 
since been heard from, the vessel and all on board 
having, no doubt, been lost. All particulars of the 
loss of the vessel, and the subsequent death of all on 
board, the brother having languished for thirty-six 
days on a raft, before he died, were given to her, as 
she affirmed, with a disgusting and even shocking 



234 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



minuteness. She had another brother, Stephen, from 
whom no tidings had been received for upwards of 
two years. The elder brother, on being questioned 
on the subject, affirmed that Stephen was with him 
in the spirit-land ; that he had died on a steamboat, 
at a particular place and time named, on the Missis- 
sippi river; that he had six thousand five hundred 
dollars with him when he died ; that this treasure 
was taken possession of by three individuals, one a 
female, who had since died, and with the greatest 
agony of mind had confessed the wrong to the spirit 
of the brother named above, etc. Soon after she 
received a letter from a sister in New York, saying, 
" I have just received a letter from brother Stephen, 
and he will be with us in two or three weeks." The 
statements pertaining to the elder brother could 
not, of course, be tested. Those pertaining to the 
other, however, statements equally specific and 
worthy of credit, she happily had the means of 
informing herself about. But one explanation can 
be given of the communications obtained in this 
instance. The husband of this lady knew about 
the brothers, honestly supposed them both alike to 
have been dead, and hence the responses obtained. 

The fact is undeniable, that whenever there is 
an honest belief that an individual is dead, whether 
he is alive or never existed at all, even spiritualists 
can obtain all the evidence of the presence, identity, 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 235 

and agency of his spirit that can be obtained in 
any other case whatever. Any persons that in the 
presence of such facts will attribute these manifesta- 
tions to "the spirits/' and especially to particular 
ones, hold their minds open to any delusions that may 
be imposed upon them from any source whatever. 

XI. Most decisive observations and ex- 
periments MADE BY INDIVIDUALS OF THE HIGHEST 
INTELLIGENCE AND INTEGRITY, FOR THE SPECIFIC 
PURPOSE OF DETERMINING THE NATURE AND 
LOCATION OF THE CAUSE OF THESE PHENOMENA. 

We now invite very special attention to a class 
of facts of the most absolute and decisive bearing 
upon our present inquiries. We refer to certain 
observations and experiments which individuals 
have made, with this one specific purpose in view, 
namely, to determine the location of the cause of 
these manifestations, whether that cause pertains to 
the minds in the circles, or to disembodied spirits 
out of them. As the facts now to be adduced are 
perfectly fundamental in their bearing, we shall 
make a quite extensive selection from the great 
mass that lies around us, and which might be 
adduced, did our limits permit. 

We will begin with a fact connected with clairvoy- 
ance, and then parallel it with another connected 
with these manifestations. Some years since, Rev. 



236 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

J. H. S., then pastor of the Baptist church in 
Poughkeepsie, N. Y., met, on a certain occasion, 
several individuals at the house of a friend. Among 
the individuals present was a Mr. L., who first 
mesmerized A. J. Davis. Mr. L. expressed to Mr. 
S. much surprise that the latter should hold the 
doctrine of future retribution, when such palpable 
evidence to the contrary could be presented. " Here," 
he says, "is a young man now present whom I will 
introduce into a clairvoyant state, in which he will 
have a direct vision of the condition of the spirits 
of the dead. Let us see what report he will bring 
back of that state." This was done. As the young 
man was subjected to the actions of the odylic 
[mesmeric] force, his head, he being seated in a 
chair, was drawn between his knees, till his hair 
touched the floor. In this state he remained for 
about two hours, without apparent injury or weari- 
someness. During this time many very wonderful 
facts were developed which we have not space to 
detail. At length Mr. L. introduced his subject 
among the spirits of the dead, that is, willed that 
he should have such visions, and asked him what 
he saw. With the greatest delight conceivable, he 
testified that all, all were happy, very, very happy. 
"What do you think of that, Mr. S. ? M says the 
mesmerizer. a How can you resist such evidence?" 
" Put me in communication with the young man," says 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 237 

Mr. S., "and let us see what will then appear." This 
was done. Mr. S., without speaking at all, fixed his 
attention upon one of the most depraved characters 
that ever appeared in this country, an individual 
who had been executed in that place, a short time 
previous, for murder, and who died as he had lived. 
Soon the clairvoyant began to scream, with the 
greatest anguish and entreaty conceivable. " Do let 
me off! Do let me off! I can't endure it," he ex- 
claimed. Mr. S. asked him what he saw. The 
individual referred to, and to whom no allusion had 
before been made, was named. "Where is he?" asked 
Mr. S. " In hell," w r as the reply. " I can't endure 
the sight of him," exclaimed the young man. "Do 
let me off." "What do you think now, Mr. L. ?" said 
Mr. S. No one can doubt the cause of these diverse 
and opposite visions in this case. They simply 
represented the ideas of those in mesmeric commu- 
nication with the clairvoyant. That is all. Had 
he been put in communication with individuals 
holding every variety of sentiment that exists on 
earth in reference to a future state, his visions would, 
in succession, have represented them all, just as they 
did those of the individuals referred to, and that for 
the same identical reason. 

We will now attend to a case of perfectly similar 
characteristics, connected with these manifestations. 
A gentleman of our acquaintance, now a member 



2 3 8 



Phenomena of Spiritualism 



of the bar in Cleveland, held a discussion on this 
subject, some years since, in North Adams, Mass. 
That he might be prepared for the discussion, he 
called, in company with the leading physician of 
the place, upon a neighbour whose daughter was a 
medium, and requested the privilege of witnessing 
some of "the spirit" phenomena. The first evening 
was spent in witnessing physical manifestations. 
With these they were perfectly astonished and even 
confounded. The medium placing simply the ends 
of her fingers upon the top of a large table standing 
in the centre of the room, called upon the spirit of 
an individual who had previously died in the place 
to move the object referred to. It was moved 
accordingly. Our friend got under the table and 
attempted to hold it still. Yet the object, and 
himself with it, was drawn over the floor, his utmost 
efforts to the contrary notwithstanding. The physi- 
cian placed a sheet of paper under the fingers of 
the medium, and drew it out while the table was 
being moved, and that without any sensible indi- 
cations of pressure upon it. They consequently left, 
with the impression that they should be compelled 
to confess before the audience to the truth of 
Spiritualism. 

On the next day they agreed with three indi- 
viduals, leading members of the three denominations 
of the place, one a Congregationalist, one a Baptist, 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 239 

and the other an Universalist. to meet them the 
evening following at the house referred to, neither 
being informed at all of the object to be obtained, 
nor of the fact that either of the others was to be 
there. When the circle was formed, the Congre- 
gationalist was introduced. The same spirit was 
present that moved the table the evening before. 
In answer to inquiries put by the individual last 
referred to, the evangelical view of heaven, hell, 
and eternal retribution, was absolutely affirmed as 
immutably true. To the question. What mode of 
baptism is correct? sprinkling was rapped out. With 
a pledge of secrecy, he was then dismissed, and the 
Baptist called in. In answer to inquiries made by 
the latter, the same view of eternity as before was 
given. To the question, What mode of baptism is 
right? immersion, was rapped out. He being dis- 
missed, the Universalist was introduced. The same 
spirit which had given the responses above stated, 
now denied the doctrine of retribution altogether, 
stoutly asserting the doctrine of universal salvation, 
and manifested a total indifference to the question 
of baptism, in any form. When the audience had 
assembled to listen to the discussion, these indi- 
viduals were called upon to testify to the spirit- 
communications which they had received, and did 
so with a result which we need not specify. In a 
similar manner, every sentiment held by ^very 



240 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



people or sect on earth might have been absolutely 
affirmed and denied, by the spirit which responded 
in that circle, or by any other spirit which appeared 
there, or ever appeared in any other circle on earth, 
and that for the identical reason that precisely 
similar answers can be obtained from the mesmeric 
subject. Who, in the presence of such facts (and 
this is the immutable character of these manifesta- 
tions the world over), can doubt their origin ? It 
would be an impeachment of the common sense of 
our readers to argue the question. 

The above case, while it bears with the most 
decisive weight upon the question of the location pf 
the real controlling cause of these manifestations, 
clearly evinces the reality of an important fact — the 
honesty and sincerity of some mediums, of one, to say 
the least. Any person who was voluntarily, and by 
known but occult and deceptive means, producing 
these rapping sounds, would never, at the same 
sitting, rap out such contradictory communications. 
Many other facts equally palpable and undeniable^ 
evince to our minds most indubitable evidence that 
many other mediums are not intentionally deceiving 
the public, but honestly suppose themselves organs 
of communication between the inhabitants of this and 
the spirit-land. 

Let us now consider another case of a similar cha- 
racter to the one just adduced. A gentleman who 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 241 

was then at the head of one of the literary institu- 
tions of the state of Ohio, entered one of these 
circles, and inquired if the spirit of a dear friend, 
his mother, we believe, was present, and received an 
affirmative answer. Being perfectly assured that that 
spirit, if present, and no one in the circle but himself, 
did know his age, for the exclusive purpose of identi- 
fication, he asked the spirit to reveal his age. To his 
surprise, precisely the right number was rapped out, 
namely, thirty or thirty-one years. To satisfy him- 
self in respect to the cause of the answer, he fixed 
his attention distinctly upon another and different 
number, twenty-five, and asked the same spirit to 
give his age once more. The identical number upon 
which his attention was then fixed was given, and 
not the correct one given before. He asked if the 
doctrine of eternal retribution is true. He received 
an absolute affirmation that it is. He induced a 
voluntary doubt in his mind of the truth of that 
doctrine, and assumed that of the opposite one. To 
his questions now, his own mother stood revealed as 
an uncompromising Universalist. He asked, Which 
denomination of Christians is most nearly correct in 
doctrine and discipline ? at the same time fixing his 
attention upon his own. That one sect was named. 
He fixed his attention upon another denomination, 
internally assuming that it was most nearly con- 
formed to the Scriptures, and repeated the question 

16 



242 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

just answered. This one sect was now designated. 
He thus went through the entire circle of denomina- 
tions that occurred to his recollection, so putting his 
questions that the medium's mind was not disturbed, 
and found his own mother a Presbyterian, Methodist, 
Baptist, Episcopalian, Universalist, Christian, Uni- 
tarian, and anything and everything, just according 
to his own mere internal assumptions. He knew 
absolutely that such was not her character, and that 
upon no known or reasonably imagined laws of mind 
could he account for such responses as proceeding 
from any intelligent spirits, good or bad. On th^ 
other hand, he saw clearly that just such commu- 
nications would be obtained if these manifestations 
are caused by the mental states of the individuals 
constituting the circles. He consequently left the 
circle, as any reasonable man would, with the 
undoubted conviction that the cause of these com- 
munications was within the circle, and not from dis- 
embodied spirits out of it. Just such answers may 
be obtained, and are obtained, in all these circles 
everywhere, in all cases where the inquirer acts with 
corresponding deliberation, and where the responses 
are not controlled by the influence of other minds 
present. Precisely similar and analogous experi- 
ments were made by Miss Catharine Beecher, with 
precisely similar results ; experiments made in the 
most decisive forms, and so varied and repeated 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 243 

that a mistake is hardly conceivable, and by no 
means supposable. With the same identical results, 
a gentleman made very extensive experiments in 
the various circles in Great Britain. At one time, 
for example, he imagined that a great fortune had 
just fallen to him by legacy, in a certain city. He 
immediately received from "the spirits" an impor- 
tant communication, corresponding in all respects to 
his own imaginings, and having no other foundation 
in fact. What higher evidence can we have that any 
facts are exclusively mundane in their origin, than is 
here presented in respect to the facts under con- 
sideration ? 

Two gentlemen, partners in business in Cleveland, 
have given us the privilege of making use of the 
following facts, of which they were both witnesses. 
On one occasion they witnessed the following facts 
in mesmerism. We here repeat, on account of pre- 
sent bearings, a fact stated in another connexion, 
adding some circumstances not then stated. The 
mesmerizer agreed to induce the subject, a lady who 
was perfectly blindfolded, to sing, and to stop the 
singing the instant Mr. A. should raise his finger. 
When the singing commenced, the mesmerizer was 
standing some two or three feet from the subject, 
with his eyes fixed intently upon Mr. A., who was 
standing in a distant part of the room. When the 
singer had partly finished a very long note, Mr. A. 



244 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

raised his finger. The voice instantly stopped, with 
the note half finished. As the mesmerizer willed it, 
the singing was resumed, and that note and the rest 
of the stanza were finished. After the lady was 
brought out of the magnetic state, Mr. A. saw her 
engaged in conversation with a friend, with the 
fingers of her hands interlocked together. Without 
uttering a word, or making a motion, he fixed his 
attention upon her hands, and willed that they 
should adhere together so firmly that she should be 
unable to separate them. When the conversation 
was finished, she, to her perfect surprise, found it 
impossible to draw her hands apart, till Mr. A., by 
an act of will, permitted it. These facts occurred in 
the presence of other most credible witnesses, who 
testify to their occurrence as here related. 

On a subsequent occasion, these gentlemen visited, 
in company, a spirit-circle formed in Cleveland by 
Mrs. Fish and the Fox girls. Mr. A., when it came 
his turn to inquire, fixed his thoughts distinctly upon 
his father, who was then living, and with the same 
distinctness framed in his own mind the communica- 
tions he should receive. Instantly the departed spirit 
of that father appeared, his name being rapped out 
in answer to the question, What spirit will communi- 
cate with me ? — that spirit, we say, appeared and took 
from his son's mind the thoughts pre-existing there, 
just as the printed page is taken from the stereotype 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 245 



plate. He dismissed his father from his mind, and 
fixed his thoughts as distinctly as possible upon five 
or six other individuals. Immediately a correspond- 
ing number of raps were heard upon the top of the 
table. " Five or six spirits now respond to you/' 
says Mrs. Fish. Such was the correspondence be- 
tween the thoughts of the inquirer and the answers 
obtained, a correspondence which always obtains 
when there is the same deliberation and distinctness 
of thought on the part of the inquirer, and when the 
action of the invisible force is not disturbed by the 
mental states of others in the circle, Myriads of 
undeniable facts confirm this statement. Mr. L., the 
other partner, now communicated with " the spirits. 5 ' 
Every question, whether put to the departed spirits 
of individuals living or dead, — and he communicated 
with each class, — was answered in exact correspond- 
ence with his own preformed conceptions. At length, 
having put a question, he instantly, by an act of will, 
confused his own mind, so that there was no thought 
in it to be represented. In a moment, the rappings 
stopped, just as the singing was interrupted in the 
instance above adduced. Thus he found that the 
action of this mysterious force was under his abso- 
lute control. He could induce, suspend, and direct 
its action at will, just as he could that cf his own 
hand or arm. The same holds true, in all cases, 
when the same conditions are fulfilled. Everyone 



246 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

who has tried the experiment has found that correct 
answers can be obtained when the inquirer knows 
what the answer should be, and keeps his mind dis- 
tinctly fixed upon it, and that everything is confused, 
or that no answers at all can be obtained, when he 
asks a question, and then either confuses his thoughts 
or turns them upon other subjects. If such facts do 
not reveal the relation of cause and effect between 
the mental states of individuals in these circles, and 
the communications there obtained, no such relation 
can, by any possibility, be established between any 
causes and facts in the universe around us. 

The case which we next cite is, if possible, more 
fundamental and decisive in its bearings than any 
others that we have yet adduced. A gentleman of 
the city of Cleveland made very extensive and care- 
ful experiments and observations, for the purpose of 
satisfying his own mind in regard to the origin of 
these manifestations. He entered upon the inquiry 
with the earnest hope of finding valid evidence that 
these manifestations come from disembodied spirits. 
He was equally dissatisfied with the doctrine of 
eternal retribution, on the one hand, and with that 
of Universalism, on the other. The general teachings 
of the spirits appeared to affirm an intermediate view, 
which corresponded with what, to say the least, he 
wished to find reliable evidence for believing. He 
accordingly put, and received answers to, upwards of 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 247 

one hundred questions, in the circles of Mrs. Fish and 
the Foxes, in Cleveland. A large portion of these 
questions, probably more than one half, as he says, 
were asked mentally. The following are the most 
important facts developed : — 

(1.) In every instance, without exception, the 
answer referred to the subject-matter inquired about. 
Here he found the immutable relation of antecedence 
and consequence, cause and effect. (2.) In every 
instance in which he knew what the answer should 
be, a perfectly correct one was obtained. (3.) When 
he was in doubt what the answer should be, those 
doubts were reflected, and nothing positive asserted. 
For example, a sister of his had died of a lingering 
disease, of the nature of which there was doubt 
among the physicians, and in his own mind, some five 
or six different diseases having been assigned, and 
none fixed upon with certainty. He inquired of the 
spirit of that sister, what was the disease of which 
she did die ? All the diseases which he had heard 
suggested as the cause, and none others, were named, 
each designated with very feeble raps, and neither 
positively affirmed as the real cause. So in all other 
similar cases. (4.) When he was mistaken in regard 
to the facts about which he inquired, and when the 
spirits of whom he was inquiring did know, and could 
not have forgotten, the answers invariably corres- 
ponded with his mistaken apprehensions, and not with 



248 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



the real facts, as he subsequently became informed, 
and as they were known to the spirits professedly 
answering. For example, he inquired of the spirit of 
his own sister her age at the time of her death, he 
supposing, at the moment, that twenty-eight was the 
true answer, and that number was rapped out. On a 
subsequent reference to the family records, he found 
that she was really aged at the time upwards of 
thirty years. A friend of his had lost his life in Cali- 
fornia, by drowning, and that, as he had been in- 
formed, in a certain river, by accidentally slipping 
through a raft of logs. All the facts of the occurrence 
were given professedly by the spirit of that friend, as 
he had supposed them to be. From four individuals 
present when the event occurred, he subsequently 
learned that his friend actually came to his end in 
another part of the state, in another river, and by a 
totally different accident. The answer corresponded 
with the supposed, and not with the real, facts, as 
known to the spirit professedly communicating. He 
put a question to another spirit, pertaining to a trans- 
action about which, as he well knew, that spirit was 
perfectly informed, and he, as he subsequently 
learned, himself had been misinformed. The answer 
corresponded with his misinformation, and not with 
the real facts, as known to the spirit professedly 
responding. (5.) To every question, without excep- 
tion, pertaining to subjects of which he was ignorant, 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 249 

a wrong answer was obtained. As the result of his 
experience, he drew the following inferences : — 

(1.) That disembodied spirits can have no con- 
nexion with these communications, and we envy not 
the candour or logical consistency of the individual 
w r ho draws from such facts a different conclusion. 
(2.) That no information is ever communicated, in 
these circles, beyond what is previously known to the 
inquirer. We suppose that not one person in a 
thousand would draw any different conclusion from 
similar investigations in these circles, investigations 
conducted upon similar principles. The only excep- 
tions that do occur are, as we suppose, some solitary 
revelations through clairvoyance (revelations which 
no one has reason to expect when he resorts to these 
circles), and certain answers corresponding to and 
evidently occasioned by acts of imagination and con- 
jecture. 

Let us now look at another very important case. 
A gentleman in Boston, a devoted spiritualist, while 
sitting in a spirit-circle, was struck with the revelation 
to his mind of the fact that the responses to the 
questions propounded by inquirers so frequently cor- 
responded with the conceptions previously formed 
in his own imagination. This led to more careful 
reflection and observation, and finally to important 
experiments, in which he found that he could deter- 
mine beforehand what answers should be given to 



250 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

any questions propounded by any persons present, 
and that he had, in a similar manner, been uncon- 
sciously directing the action of this mysterious force, 
and that while he had been supposing that spirits 
out of the circles had been doing it. A totally new 
theory pertaining to these so-called spirit-manifesta- 
tions now stood revealed to his mind. He saw that 
mere reflections of the thoughts of individuals in the 
circles had been mistaken for the voices of spirits out 
of the circles. 

A gentleman of very strong mesmeric power in the 
state of New York also found, after the most exten- 
sive experiments, that he could enter any circle what- 
ever, and by simply willing it, could utterly silence 
" the spirits " so that no communications whatever 
could be obtained from them ; that he could, in a 
similar manner, utterly confuse their responses, or 
determine beforehand the answers which should be 
given to any questions proposed by any persons 
present. The bearing of such facts cannot be mis- 
taken. Any person that in their presence will 
attribute these manifestations to disembodied spirits, 
must be a spiritualist by dint of will, and because he 
is determined to be deceived. 

VERY INTERESTING AND DECISIVE FACTS FUR- 
NISHED BY ONE OF OUR FORMER PUPILS. 
We will now give important facts furnished us 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 251 

by a former pupil of ours, a lady of superior educa- 
tion and intelligence. After her marriage, she had 
occasion to accompany her husband to Philadelphia, 
While at the hotel, a spirit-circle was held for 
several evenings in succession, and she was invited 
to attend them. Having, from her own reflections, 
been led to apprehend that the cause of the com- 
munications received was the thoughts and mental 
states of individuals in the circles, and not those of 
§t the spirits," she determined to avail herself of 
the opportunity then presented, to satisfy her mind 
upon the subject. Soon after she took her place 
at the table amid the circle, the fact was indicated 
that a spirit was present who desired to communi- 
cate with the stranger, ever}- person present being 
wholly unknown to our friend. " Before I question 
the spirit," she remarked, " there are two questions 
to which I desire to receive specific answers at 
the beginning, namely, Will the spirit give his or 
her name when I call for it ? and, Will said spirit 
answer promptly the questions I shall subsequently 
put ? These questions I desire that the medium 
shall put to the spirit, and herself obtain the answers 
in my behalf." The medium put the questions in 
order, and to each received an absolute affirmative 
answer. « Well," said our friend, " let the spirit now 
give his or her name." As soon as this was said, 
our lady friend, by a secret act of will, confused her 



252 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

own thoughts, and allowed no name whatever to 
be in her mind, nobody suspecting what she was 
doing. The alphabet was now read for the purpose 
of having, by successive raps, the letters of the 
name designated. But no raps were heard and no 
letter indicated, although the alphabet was read 
over repeatedly, and the medium and members of 
the circle entreated the spirit to respond as promised. 
At length, when all were in despair of inducing the 
spirit to respond as promised, our friend remarked 
that it might be that he had had occasion to retire 
for a time, and had now returned to the circle ; and 
requested the medium to put the inquiry whether 
the spirit was then present and would now give his 
or her name when it should be called for. The 
question was put, as requested, and an affirmative 
answer was received. The name was accordingly 
called for, our friend, in the interior of her own 
mind, doing as she had done in the first instance, 
and that with the same result, no letter being rapped 
to. The medium was requested to ask a third 
time whether the spirit was indeed present and 
would answer to his or her name when it should 
be called for. Again an absolute affirmation of 
actual presence, and an equally absolute pledge to 
answer when requested, was received. The experi- 
ment of the two former occasions was repeated, 
with the same result. The lady requested that the 



Scie7itifically Explained and Exposed. 253 

spirit should be questioned once more in regard to 
presence and answering. This was done, and the 
pledge to respond was repeated a fourth time. As 
the lady now requested the spirit to give his or 
her name, she fixed her thoughts upon a particular 
name, and the first letter of that name, to the great 
satisfaction of the circle, was designated. She 
now dismissed that name from her thoughts, and 
fixed her attention upon another. The first letter 
of this was designated. This process was continued 
until the first letters of some half-a-dozen names 
were designated. The medium and members of the 
circle now exclaimed that nothing but a jumble 
of letters, and no name at all, was being given. So 
utterly confused and surprised were they at what 
had occurred, that they broke up the circle, and our 
friend retired to her room, all affirming that nothing 
of the kind had ever occurred in their experience 
before. 

After this, the circle was formed again, and now 
such distinct and accurate responses were obtained 
that on the next evening our friend was requested 
to have another sitting, all being certain that now 
everything would be done to the fullest satisfaction. 
When the circle was formed on this occasion, " the 
spirits" intimated that they desired, not to answer 
questions, but to give sentiments and maxims. Our 
friend now determined, in the secret of her own mind, 



254 



Phenomena of Spiritualism 



that she would run the course of the thoughts which 
were begun to be expressed, into some ridiculous 
endings. The first letter designated was " K. " As 
soon as that was designated, she became impressed 
that the sentence which was to come out was, " Keep 
thy mouth, " and felt certain that that was the 
thought present in all minds in the circle. She 
determined that the sentence given should be, 
" Keep thy money." All went right, of course, until 
the letter o was reached, and the question was 
whether this letter should by followed by the letter n> 
or u. Here, our friend said, she had a hard struggle, 
the thoughts of all but her own being evidently fixed 
upon the last letter designated. Holding her own 
thought strongly fixed upon the letter n> that was 
rapped to. The astonishment of the circle was ir- 
repressible, and no persuasion could induce them to 
permit the sentence to be completed. One of the 
women present now asked of "the spirits" the 
question whether there was not an individual in 
the circle who was disturbing its harmony, and w r hom 
they desired to have excluded from the sittings, 
and received an affirmative answer. Our friend now 
determined, mentally, that that woman should be 
designated by "the spirits" as the disturbing spirit 
at whom they were offended, and accordingly fixed 
her thoughts upon that one individual. When each 
individual was named in succession, " the lot fell," not 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed, 255 

upon the stranger, but upon the woman referred to. 
All was " confusion worse confounded " in that circle, 
and all but our friend departed wondering with 
unutterable wonder at what had occurred. In her 
judgment, her own theory was fully verified, and the 
illusions of Spiritualism were fully understood. On 
this case we remark : — 

1. All the facts presented indicate that the medium 
and her associates in that circle were acting with 
perfect integrity in respect to the facts before us, and 
believed with all sincerity that they were in actual 
communication with " the spirits." 

2. Equally manifest is the fact that, as far as the 
mere action of this force is concerned in producing 
rapping sounds and other phenomena in these circles, 
there is no delusion or imposition. 

3. That the action of the force developed in these 
circles is, when the proper conditions are fulfilled, 
controlled by mental states ; an absolute accordance 
being obtained here between the most secret thought 
and visible and audible effects, and that in such a 
variety of decisive instances as to reveal a law cf 
antecedence and consequence. 

4. The mental states which here controlled the 
action of this force existed in the minds, or a mind, 
within the circle, and not in those of spirits from 
another sphere. 

5. The fundamental error of Spiritualism is a mis- 



256 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

apprehension in regard to the location of the mental 
states which control the action of this force in the 
production of these phenomena. As the reader shall 
carefully examine our facts in all their bearings, he 
will become absolutely assured that our doctrine 
of the mundane origin of these phenomena stands 
revealed as a strictly verified deduction of science. 
Let us now attend to other facts. 

A professor of the Ohio Medical College, at the 
earnest solicitation of friends, visited on one occasion 
the spirit-circle of Mrs. Fish and the Foxes in the 
city of Cleveland. All his questions, the first ex- 
cepted, his mind not being in a collected state at the 
moment, were answered with perfect correctness, 
though they pertained to subjects with which he 
alone, of the members of the circle, was acquainted ; 
all his questions, we say, were correctly answered, till 
the spirit communicating, that of a sister, was re- 
quested to specify the given name of their father. 
The moment he put the question, his thought re- 
curred to his brother, concerning whom he had just 
before been inquiring. The name of the brother 
instead of the father was immediately rapped out. 
The occurrence, he remarked, threw a flood of light 
upon his mind in regard to the origin and cause of 
these manifestations. The spirit professedly com- 
municating understood the names of each of the 
individuals referred to as well as the professor himself, 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 257 

and would have corrected the mistake had it been 
that person that was communicating. No such cor- 
rection, however, was made. He concluded, there- 
fore, that his own thought caused the answer, and not 
that of a spirit out of the circle. Who can doubt the 
correctness of his conclusion ? Had it been an intel- 
ligent mind out of the circle, especially the mind 
professedly answering, it could have made no dif- 
ference whatever to what subject the thoughts of the 
inquirer should turn, after asking his question. If, 
on the other hand, the action of this power in the 
production of the answer was controlled by the men- 
tal states of the inquirer himself, then the accidental 
diversion of attention in this instance w r ould occa- 
sion the identical answer that was received. On 
no other principle can its occurrence be accounted 
for. 

This case also reveals the principle on which so 
many wrong answers are obtained in these circles 
to questions pertaining to subjects in respect to 
which both the inquirers and the spirits professedly 
answering are perfectly informed, and when such 
answers are not only unintentionally but unex- 
pectedly obtained. It is by the accidental diversion 
of attention from the subject inquired about to some 
other subject. We shall have occasion to recur tc 
this class of facts again, as they will be seen to have 
a very important bearing upon the question before 

17 



2 58 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

us. All that is now required is to suggest the prin- 
ciple in accordance with which they occur. 

This case also suggests a class of facts of very 
conclusive and decisive bearing upon our present 
inquiries. It has been found, by careful observation 
and experiment, that the following relations, among 
others, exist between the mental states of the in- 
quirer and the answers obtained, when such responses 
are not disturbed and modified by the undeniable 
psychological influence of other minds. (1.) If the 
inquirer fully commands his thoughts, and keeps his 
attention fixed upon the subject inquired about, the 
responses, whether right or wrong, will invariably 
relate to that one subject. (2.) If he knows what the 
answers should be, they will be almost, if not quite, 
invariably right, and if he does not know, and the 
spirit professedly communicating most manifestly 
does, the answer, excepting where a mere yes or no 
is required, and where, and on the principle of mere 
guessing, there is as much likelihood that the answer 
shall be right as wrong, the answer, we say, will be 
nearly as invariably wrong. (3.) When the inquirer 
is misinformed, and the true answer is known to the 
spirit professedly communicating, the answer will uni- 
formly embody the misinformation of the inquirer, 
instead of the truth as known to the spirit ; all the 
apparent exceptions admitting of a ready explana- 
tion, without supposing the interposition of spirits. 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 259 

(4.) When the true answer is known both to the in- 
quirer and to the professedly answering spirit, if the 
attention of the former is either intentionally or acci- 
dentally diverted and fixed definitely upon something 
else, this new thought, and not the answer referred 
to, will be embodied in the response obtained. (5.) 
If, either by accident or design, the mind of the in- 
quirer becomes so confused that there is in it no 
thought at all to be represented, no answer whatever 
will be obtained. (6.) If the inquirer is not able, or 
does not think, to command his attention so as to pre- 
vent his thoughts becoming confused and wandering, 
the answers will perfectly^accord with his mental states 
at the time, the answers being sometimes relevant and 
at others strikingly irrelevant, and sometimes right, 
and at others wrong ; and that when the true answer, in 
every instance, is perfectly known both to the inquirer 
and the spirit professedly communicating with him. 
(7.) Let an individual write out a series of questions, 
the true answers to all of which are perfectly known 
to him and to the spirit of a deceased friend ; let the 
former put those questions into the hands of an indi- 
vidual who knows nothing about the facts to which 
the questions pertain, and let this individual put 
these questions to that spirit, and the following will 
be the invariable result. If this individual puts the 
questions without forming in his own mind any ima- 
ginary answers, or fixing attention upon the subject at 



260 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

all, there will be either no responses at all, or they will 
all have the undeniable characteristics of mere ima- 
ginings, on the part of individuals who know nothing 
about the subjects referred to. If, on the other hand, 
he frames in his own mind a distinct and definite 
imaginary answer to each question, and keeps his 
thoughts distinctly fixed upon that answer when he 
puts the question, the response obtained will accord 
with his imaginings, and not with the facts as known 
to the individual who wrote the questions and the 
spirit professedly responding to them. Experiments 
of this kind have been tried in so many instances, 
and in such a diversity of forms, as to establish the 
truth of the above principle. If any still doubt, they 
can verify that principle by making the experiments 
themselves. (8.) Any inquirer who can command 
his own thoughts, and think with entire deliberation 
under such circumstances, especially if he has con- 
siderable mesmeric power, can, at will, make any 
spirit that shall professedly answer his call, — and 
such individuals can call up any spirit they choose, — 
give any answer he pleases to any question he may 
choose to put. He can make such spirit affirm and 
deny successively any sentiment that can be named, 
and contradict himself any number of times he 
pleases, provided always that the process is so con- 
ducted as not to disturb the medium, or break the 
odylic harmony of the circle. Most of the above 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 261 

statements have been most fully verified by the facts 
already stated. Others will be in those which we are 
about to present, and all could be still further by 
numberless undeniable additional facts which we 
might present. We affirm, without fear of contra- 
diction, that these facts can be accounted for but 
upon the truth of the hypothesis which w r e maintain, 
namely, that these communications originate exclu- 
sively from the minds in these circles, and not from 
disembodied spirits out of the same. If such were 
their origin they could not but have these identical 
characteristics; and they could not have these charac- 
teristics if they did originate from intelligent minds, 
good or bad, out of these circles, minds governed by 
any mental laws known to us. We have made the 
above statements to prepare the way for the presen- 
tation of the following very interesting and impor- 
tant facts which we have obtained in the city of 
Boston, Mass. Our convictions of the truth of our 
hypothesis have been greatly strengthened by the 
perfect accordance which we have found to exist 
in the character and bearings of the fundamental 
facts developed by careful observers in this city, 
and those which we had previously collected and 
arranged by means of our own observations and 
inquiries. The individuals whose names and facts 
will now be presented will please to accept of our 
grateful acknowledgments for their kindness in 



262 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

furnishing us with facts so important, and especially 
for permitting us to use their names in connexion 
with these facts. 

FACTS WHICH OCCURRED AT THE HOUSE OF 
REV. STARR KING. 

The facts which we first adduce occurred at the 
house of Rev. Starr King, pastor of the Hollis Street 
Church, Boston. The circle was a select one, and the 
individual through whom the communications were 
obtained was the celebrated medium, Mrs. Hayden. 
The main questioner was an individual of great self- 
command, and of corresponding power of intellectual 
concentration. The circumstances then were as fa- 
vourable, in all respects, as we can well conceive, 
for eliciting important and decisive facts. The first 
object of the questioner was to ascertain distinctly 
and conclusively whether the name of an individual 
of which he was thinking, and when no one present 
could have the least suspicion of what name he was 
thinking, could be spelled out, through the medium, 
by raps, and that when the medium could, by no 
possibility, have any knowledge of the movements of 
his hand when he should point at the requisite letters. 
He accordingly placed himself where the medium 
could not see him at all, nor any other person who 
could report his motions to her. The right name was 



Scie?ttifically Explai?ied and Exposed. 263 

thus given, and also the place where the individual 
bearing that name had died, namely, the Tremont 
House. He was, therefore, as he ought to have been, 
most fully satisfied that there was present a power 
through which his most secret thoughts could be 
externally expressed, and this, too, when he had 
given not the least indication to anyone what those 
thoughts were. He then wished to know whether 
his own mind controlled the action of that power 
in the production of such communications, or that 
of some spirit out of the circle, no other hypothesis 
being supposable in this case. To solve this one pro- 
blem was the object of the questions subsequently 
put. He accordingly asked the spirit professedly 
communicating, how long a time it was since he 
died. " Twelve days," was the answer rapped out. 
"You are wrong there/' replied the questioner, ad- 
dressing the spirit ; " it is only ten days since you died. 
I know absolutely that this is the fact, and you must 
be aware of it too. Please answer that question 
again." " Tw r elve days " were again given. Again 
and again he reasoned with the spirit on the subject, 
affirming absolutely to him that ten days was the 
only right answer. Again and again the same 
number as before was given. He then asked the 
spirit to designate the day of the week on which he 
died. Saturday was given. "You are wrong again," 
says the inquirer, " and you must be aware of the fact. 



264 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

You died on Monday. Please correct the mistake." 
Saturday was given, as before. Again and again 
the spirit was told that Monday was the true answer, 
and was expostulated with for not giving it. Again 
and again, when requested to correct his mistake, 
Saturday was given. The man did die on Monday, 
and had been just ten days dead. How were these 
singular answers obtained ? When the inquirer 
asked the spirit to tell the time which had elapsed 
since, or the day of the week on which he died, the 
inquirer would internally, and wholly unknown to 
anyone but himself, fix his thoughts, and hold them 
fixed, upon the number twelve, or Saturday, as the 
case might be. When he had reminded the spirit 
of his mistake, and asked him to correct it, he would 
then, while the response was being rapped out, fix his 
attention upon the wrong number or the wrong day, 
and the answer, in every instance, corresponded to 
that number or day, and not to the right one, as abso- 
lutely known both to the inquirer and the spirit pro- 
fessedly responding. Between the thought in his mind 
at the moment and the answer obtained, there was, 
even in this case, the fixed and immutable relation 
of antecedence and consequence, a relation so immu- 
table and fixed as to demonstrate the existence be- 
tween them of that of cause and effect. 

The individual then called up other spirits, and 
w r ent through precisely similar processes with them, 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 265 



and that with the same invariable results. A friend 
of his, for example, had died in the city of New York, 
After obtaining the evidence of presence and identity 
as before, the inquirer, secretly fixing his own atten- 
tion upon Salem, then asked the spirit of that friend 
to name the place where he died. Salem was rapped 
out. He solemnly assured the spirit that he was 
wrong, affirming that New York was the right answer, 
and asked him to correct his error, the inquirer fixing 
his own attention, as soon as the request was made, 
upon Salem. This last name was given as before. 
So with many other spirits, with precisely similar 
results, no one present having the least suspicion of 
what the inquirer was doing, until he himself disclosed 
the fact, after he had finished questioning the spirits. 
In every experiment, he found it absolutely impossible 
to induce any spirit he could call up — and he could, 
we repeat, call up any one he chose — to give the 
true answer to any question he might propose, how- 
ever absolutely that answer was known to himself 
and the spirit too, if his attention at the moment 
was only fixed upon some other answer, an answer 
known to himself, and the spirit too, to be false, 
and when the spirit was entreated not to give that 
answer, but the true one. He always obtained a 
correct response when he would allow his attention 
to be fixed upon it, and a wrong one when his atten- 
tion, for the moment, was directed towards that : and 



266 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

in all instances the answers perfectly accorded with 
the secret movements of his own mind. No person, 
we are free to say, will have the effrontery to assign 
any other controlling cause for these communications, 
than the mental states of this individual. From these 
most decisive facts, the following conclusions in regard 
to these communications are rendered undeniably evi- 
dent : (i.) There is in nature a force whose action, 
when certain conditions are fulfilled, corresponds with 
our mental states, and is determined by the same, — 
a force through which our own thoughts may be re- 
flected back upon us, as if they came from other 
minds, to us invisible, and apparently from the spirit- 
land, — a very important truth, unquestionably. (2.) 
There is also in this so-called spirit-movement a 
power by which, without any external motions or 
signs whatever on our part, our most secret thoughts 
may be revealed and expressed. (3.) This may be 
done in the total absence of all ab extra spirit-agency, 
none being supposable in the facts before us. (4.) 
No such revelations can be adduced as presenting 
any evidence whatever of an ab extra spirit-origin. 
(5.) We have no occasion to go beyond the force 
developed in these circles and the mental states of 
the individuals constituting them, to account for any 
revelations embodied in these communications, those 
pertaining to secret thoughts being, of all others, in 
themselves the most wonderful and unaccountable — 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 267 

far more so than those which pertain to mere physical 
objects, however distant. (6.) We have the highest 
positive evidence of the exclusively subjective origin 
of these so-called spirit-manifestations. Any person 
that, in the presence of such facts, can draw any 
other conclusion, is, in our honest judgment, far 
removed, in his reasonings from facts to conclusions, 
off from the true line of scientific or common sense 
deduction. 

The communications received by Mr. King him- 
self, though not, in all respects, so decisive in their 
bearings, were yet very interesting and important, 
Being informed, by the appropriate raps, that a spirit 
was present who would communicate with him, he 
asked, first, for the initials of his (the spirit's) name, 
Mr. K. at the time fixing his attention upon a certain 
individual who had died some time before, an indi- 
vidual whom no one present but himself was likely 
to think of. The initials of the very name that rose 
in his mind were given. He then called for the 
name in full, and it was given accordingly. Many 
important test questions were then asked, and all, 
without exception, which came within the recollection 
of Mr. K. himself, were answered with the most 
perfect accuracy. The spirit was asked to give the 
title of the work which he prepared for the press just 
before his death, Mr. K. knowing what it was. The 
entire title was given accordingly. " Now give," says 



268 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

Mr. K., " the first sentence of that work/' the work 
being present, but Mr. K. having no recollection 
whatever what that sentence was. Several most 
abortive efforts were made to form a sentence ; but 
nothing was expressed which at all corresponded to 
any part of the sentence referred to. Such facts 
leave no reasonable doubt upon the question of the 
origin of these manifestations. 

IMPORTANT FACTS FURNISHED BY DR. BELL. 

We now invite very special attention to some 
interesting and important facts which have been 
kindly furnished us by Luther V. Bell, M.D., who 
was at the head of the McLean Lunatic Asylum 
of Somerville, near Boston. For two years, as Dr. 
B. informed us, he had, as far as his official duties 
permitted, carefully observed and studied the spirit- 
phenomena, physical and intellectual, and that for 
two reasons — the interest which attaches to the 
phenomena themselves ; but more especially from 
the fact that not a few of the inmates of that 
institution were there through the influence of this 
one cause. The following may be stated, as among 
the more important results of his investigations. We 
make our citations from " Two Dissertations on what 
is termed the Spiritual Phenomena, read at the 
meetings of the Association of Medical Superinten- 



Scientifically Explai7ied and Exposed. 269 

dents of American Insane Hospitals, at Washington 
and Boston, in 1854 and 1855," — dissertations, the 
manuscripts of which he very kindly put into our 
hands, with the permission to make such extracts 
from them as, in our judgment, the interests of 
science might seem to require. The following are 
the results of his observations, which were most 
carefully made through upwards of twenty sessions 
in the spirit-circles. 

1. They most fully sustain the claims of Spirit- 
ualism, as far as the mere fact of physical manifesta- 
tions are concerned, namely, the movement of heavy 
bodies, both with and without physical contact ; 
their movement, too, in accordance with intelli- 
gence. We will give a single case in illustration, a 
case related in the following extract from Disserta- 
tion II. 

" The following is the minute of one of the 
physical manifestations. Went to the house of 
Jonathan Brown, Jr., Esq., cashier of the Market 
Bank, with Mr. Homer Goodhue, just returned from 
the South. Mr. Goodhue for twenty years was the 
supervisor of our male department, and well known 
in character, at least, to many members of this 
association. He is a gentleman of orthodox faith, 
and not free from the prejudices of that denomina- 
tion against this new thing as a religious element. 
He never before had been present, or seen any 



270 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

manifestations. In fact, he had never seen a 
'medium/ or attended a 'circle.' Mrs. Brown and 
a young woman, Mr. Brown's niece, made up the 
list of the five persons present. This 'medium' is 
exceedingly small, not weighing more than eighty 
or ninety pounds, and yet her gifts appear to be 
very great in effecting infractions of gravitation, 
but not certain or strong in the other classes of 
powers. We sat in the double parlours joined with 
folding doors, or rather doors sliding on trucks 
along an iron rod projecting one-half to three- 
quarters inch above the level of the carpet. We 
began the operations by opening the family dining- 
table, and inserting two or three leaves, elongating 
it from about six to perhaps nine or more feet. I 
state this as it allowed an eye to be kept as to 
wires, etc. It had six legs, and was of such a 
weight that when the castors were all in a right 
line for motion I could with both my hands, and 
as strong a pull as my strength of fingers would 
allow, just put it in motion. 

"After an evenings performance of all the usual 
responses, motions of the table with hands upon 
it, with the fingers ends just touched, etc., which 
were satisfactory, it was proposed, especially as the 
motions were unusually facile and free with contact, 
to make the trial without touch. I was master of 
ceremonies, and directed things to suit my own 



Scie?itifically Explained and Exposed. 2ji 

views. We stood on the sides of the table, three 
and two, and back from it from twelve to eighteen 
inches. Our hands were raised above it about the 
same distance. As the table was rather low and 
my height is unusual, I was able to see between the 
oodies of all present and the table. We spoke as 
if we were addressing persons in reality, and once 
in a while we received remarks from the ' spirits ' as is 
assumed, the medium being ' impressed ? and writing 
on paper before her. 

"The table commenced its journey down the room, 
keeping midway, reached the iron crossing at the 
sliding doors, surmounted it, and passed on. One 
of us ran and pushed away a centre-table in the 
middle of the other parlour, intending to allow as 
long a journey as possible. It moved on, sometimes 
slowly, then with a rapid slide, a foot or two at once. 
At length it reached the end of the second parlour, as 
near as the mirror made it safe to go. I expressed 
my thanks to the ' spirits ' for the completeness of the 
manifestation, and begged that they would gratify us 
by returning the table back to the point of beginning. 
It reversed its course. At a momentary halt, I 
suggested to the company that we should all gradu- 
ally remove from it our bodies and hands, to see how 
far the ' influence ' would extend. It was found that 
when we withdrew more than about eighteen or 
twenty inches, the motion ceased. And indeed on 



272 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

returning, the capacity of motion seemed to be lost 
for three or four minutes afterward, as if a certain 
accumulation of power were in progress. When 
the fore legs of the table reached the iron bar, it came 
to a dead stand. We waited, and the table heaved 
and trembled and creaked, but could not rise above 
the obstacle. Presently the medium was impressed, 
and wrote that if we would lift those two legs over 
the iron, they, that is ' the spirits/ thought they could 
bring the other four along. We did not hesitate to 
afford the suggested aid. Whereupon the spirits 
succeeded in moving the whole on, without inter- 
ruption, until the table was as high up in the room 
from which it started as it was at commencing, but 
about four feet over from the central line at one side. 
I expressed my gratification at their success, but said, 
There is one thing more I wish you to do — move the 
table at right angles, so that these chairs will be right 
to sit in, as they were at first.' The table imme- 
diately moved at right angles as desired, into the 
precise position designated. This evenings per- 
formance now closed, no person of us having the 
remotest doubt as to the fact of this considerable 
motion having taken place with no human power. 
The entire space passed over was about fifty feet." 

On this case we deem it important to make the 
following observations : — 

(1.) Every circumstance which surrounds this case 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 273 

combines with every other to remove it from the 
most distant suspicion of trick or fraud. 

(2.) The fact of the movement of heavy bodies 
without visible contact is most fully established, and 
will not be questioned by any who have not fully 
made up their minds to blindly follow the maxim 
practically, at least, adopted by David Hume, that 
the occurrence of no strange event can be established 
by testimony. 

(3.) Equally manifest is the fact that this move- 
ment was immediately caused by an attractive and 
repulsive physical force developed in the organisms of 
the individuals present and the object before them. 
We bring an object called the magnet within a 
certain distance of another object, a piece of iron, 
for example, and the latter object is drawn towards 
and after the former. We remove the object to a 
somew T hat greater distance, and the phenomena of 
attraction disappear. It is thus that the existence of 
magnetism, as a force in nature, is demonstrated. 
How was it in the case before us ? The table moved 
when, and only when, the hands of the individuals 
referred to were within a certain distance of it, and 
ceased to move when they were removed to a greater 
distance. We have, then, in these movements, the same 
evidence of the presence and action of an attractive 
and repulsive physical force, that we have, or can 
have, of the existence of magnetism, as such a force. 

18 



274 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



(4.) This force differs fundamentally from magnet- 
ism and electricity, and all other mere physical forces 
in nature, in this, that the direction of its action 
accords with acts of intelligence and will, and is often 
determined by the same. How perfectly were all 
those movements conformed to the mental states 
of the individuals constituting that circle, and how 
perfectly manifest is it that these movements were 
determined by the thoughts and wills of some minds 
within that circle, or without it. We can have but 
little, if any, more evidence that our physical organ- 
isms act in accordance with our own mental states, 
and are directed, in many important particulars, by 
the same, than we have that these movements were 
directed and controlled by the mental states and acts 
of some intelligences located somewhere, either in the 
circle or out of it. 

(5.) We have only to suppose the presence of a 
power having the very attractive, repulsive, and 
mentally directed qualities which we see that this 
must have, together with the known mental states of 
the individuals constituting this circle, to account 
most fully and satisfactorily for every fact that 
occurred there, and this without the supposition of 
any ab extra controlling cause whatever. When Dr. 
Bell said, Let the spirits move the table so and so, the 
thoughts of every mind present were fixed intensely 
upon that one movement, and the unconscious, but 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 275 

really united and strong fiat of every will was, let 
that movement be made. Instead of its being a 
cause of wonder that the phenomena did appear 
under those circumstances, it would have been a 
miracle if they had not occurred. We have no more 
occasion to go out of the circle, and suppose the 
interposition of spirits, to account for these facts, 
than we have to go out of our bodies, and suppose 
the interposition of spirits, to account for the move- 
ments of our own physical organisms. 

(6.) Not a solitary ray of light is thrown upon any 
of these facts, by referring them to the agency of 
disembodied spirits. If spirits did do it, it must have 
been by simply willing the motions which the indi- 
viduals constituting the circles wished to have made. 
Why should we suppose that such power attaches to 
the mental states of the former, and not to those of 
the latter ? If the mental states of spirits out of the 
circle have such power, much more must we suppose 
that those of minds in the organisms in which this 
force is developed would have the same efficiency. 
The supposition of the interposition of spirits, there- 
fore, is the most uncalled-for hypothesis conceivable, 
to account for these facts, an hypothesis which throws 
not a solitary ray of light upon one of them. 

(7.) Hence we remark, finally, that there is not 
in these facts, and if not in these, in none of the 
physical facts of Spiritualism, the least conceivable 



276 Pheno?7tena of Spiritualism 

evidence of the controlling interposition and agency 
of spirits. The fact that the spirits were requested to 
move the table, and that it did move accordingly, 
as if in answer to such request, presents no such 
evidence at all ; for the two following reasons, that, 
as we have seen in other cases, the same movements 
would have occurred had the object been commanded 
to move and no reference at all made to spirits, or if 
the same command had been given and the spirits 
challenged to prevent the movement. No such in- 
terposition is demanded to account for any of the 
facts, and they are, in all respects, what we know 
they could not but be, from the nature of the force 
developed, and from the relations of the minds 
present to the same. 

2. The facts developed by Dr. Bell fully sustain 
the claims of Spiritualism as far as concerns any 
questions pertaining to the real existence of a power 
to obtain, through mediums, a revelation of our most 
secret thoughts, and to obtain also, as from spirits, 
correct answers to any questions pertaining to any 
subjects known to the inquirer and to the spirits 
professedly communicating with him, however remote 
such knowledge may be from the cognizance of the 
mediums, or of any other persons present. No candid 
person, we feel quite safe in making the affirmation, 
can read these dissertations without having every 
doubt removed from his mind on this subject. We 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 277 

will give two examples. The first is contained in the 
following extract from the first dissertation :- — 

"I asked, 'Is any spirit friend of mine present?' 
Answer, ' Yes! 6 Who is it ?' Answer, 'Any one you 
may choose to question! I certainly felt that this was 
a sufficiently broad latitude, and my mind instantly 
elected, as the object of my converse, a deceased 
brother, the late Dr. John Bell, of New York city, 
because he was entirely unknown to anybody in the 
section where I resided, having been dead nearly 
five-and-twenty years, and never having been a 
resident of Massachusetts. In fact, he left New 
England about 1820. A gentleman at my elbow 
said to me, ' You need not speak the name of any 
friend you may call upon. Put your question 
mentally.' I did so, and then said, ' Is the spirit I 
have just thought of present V Answer, ' Yes! i Give 
me some proof by indicating the year of your decease.' 
I passed the pencil secretly over the numerals, and 
the figures i-tf-3-0 were successively indicated (1830). 
This was the year. I then remarked aloud, ' Coin- 
cidences are not proofs, — confirm the fact of your 
presence by stating the place at which you were at 
your decease.' There was then rapped out on the 
alphabet the letters, t-h-i-b-a-u-d-e-a-u. When it 
had proceeded thus far, the medium and all the others 
acquainted with the processes, exclaimed, — ' That is 
no word ; it is a mere jumble of letters : go back and 



t 



278 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

recommence/ 4 No/ said I, 'let him go on, and see 
what he will make of it.' The rapping continued, — 
v-i-l-l-e, — forming the word Thibaudeauville, a small 
town in Louisiana, near which my brother lived on a 
plantation, and at which he received and sent his 
letters. The fact of his death at or near that place 
could not have been known, probably, to any other 
person in Massachusetts except myself, and years 
had passed by since it had entered my mind. The 
medium was an uneducated young girl, Irving in 
the city of Boston, unknown to me ; and the other 
parties present were three eminent clergymen, and 
the two gentlemen I have before referred to." 

The next is taken from the second dissertation, and 
must stand for many other cases recorded, of equal 
pertinency : — 

" Recurring again to my own experience, I entered 
upon a series of six weekly examinations with the 
same medium and associates, whose names would be 
recognised as among the distinguished in literature 
and theology of this vicinity. Having already re- 
ceived evidence, as I felt (as detailed last year), that I 
had obtained correct replies to mental questions, and 
that many things not possibly within the knowledge 
of any person present had been correctly given to me, 
I arranged my plans, 1st. To verify this in full, and 
ascertain whether there was anything known to me 
and a deceased person alone which could be repro- 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 279 

duced. 2nd. Whether a correct reply could be got 
to anything known, ex necessitate rei, to the spirit 
invoked, but not known to the questioner, as subse- 
quent inquiry should demonstrate. I had, as I 
thought, a very complete test, to understand which I 
must go into a brief domestic narration. I had a 
brother, Dr. John Bell (alluded to in my last year's 
experience), who died in Louisiana in 1830. He was 
settled in New York city as a medical practitioner. 
He Wqis seized with haemoptysis in 1824, and as the 
celebrated Laennec, w r hose pupil he was, had some 
years previously diagnosed pulmonary disease, his 
case was regarded as highly critical. Abandoning at 
once the brightest prospects of professional success, 
he decided to go to the South on horseback. Mount- 
ing his animal, he first made a farewell visit to his 
friends in New England. I was at the time of his 
visit here attending lectures at a country college, but 
learning that he would be in Boston about a certain 
date, I proceeded to that city. Arriving late at night 
I could make no attempts to find him, but early the 
next morning I set out to visit the various hotels, 
which were much crowded at that season, to meet 
with him. I succeeded in finding his name at what 
was known as the ' City Hotel.' On inquiring, I 
found that he had just settled his bill, and probably 
would be found about starting. I passed into the 
shed connecting the hotel and its stables, and there 



280 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

found him arranging his horse's stirrups, etc., pre- 
paratory to mounting to take his departure. I there 
had what I, and probably he, felt to be our last inter- 
view, and which in fact so proved, although his health 
was partially recovered, and he lived several years 
afterwards, This interview had always been very 
clearly recollected, and as I never had communicated 
it to any person, I had often remarked to my 
' spiritual ' friends that if any medium could reproduce 
that occasion in its essentials, I would admit that the 
spirit of my brother was present ; indeed I must do 
so, because I could see no alternative. I may as well 
remark here, that I was too hasty in my logic, in 
proffering such admissions. At the first or second 
i)f the series of investigations, I was informed that the 
spirit of my brother would communicate. I took 
occasion to question him pretty thoroughly on such 
points as I thought none could know except myself 
or other immediate friends. I think the nature of the 
questions will leave no room for the suspicion that 
the medium, who was an entire stranger to us, and 
born since the events referred to, could have been 
' crammed ' into an ability to answer correctly. I 
will give the questions and answers, observing that 
every one except the last [given in another con- 
nexion], was perfectly correct and true. 

" Q. When you went to Paris, as a medical student, 
who was your fellow passenger ? A. Wells. N. B. 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 281 

I had previously requested, as the communications 
were to be in the tedious alphabetical process, that 
he should reply in the briefest terms. A gentleman 
asked his Christian name. A.- John D, Q. The 
name of the vessel ? A. Brig Caravan. Q. On that 
voyage to France, where did you land ? A. In Hol- 
land. N. B. At that date (1821) there was no direct 
French trade, and passengers were obliged to take 
circuitous passages. Q. You once obtained a medical 
prize: what was the subject? A. Smallpox. Q. 
Where was our last interview in life ? A. In Boston. 
Q. Where in Boston? A. City Hotel Q. What 
were you doing? A. Preparing to mount my horse 
for a journey. Q. A journey! where ? A. To the 
South. Q. What part of the South? A. Natchez. 
Q. Who went with you ? A. James Dinsmore and 
Stephen Minor. 

" This Stephen Minor was a young gentleman of 
Natchez who had been sent north for an education, 
had become insane, and had been a resident for some 
years at the late Dr. Chaplin's private insane retreat 
at Cambridgeport. His friends took the opportunity 
of their going to Natchez to procure his return home. 
Mr. Dinsmore was a cousin of my brother, who re- 
mained with him at the South as long as he lived. I 
might observe that I am not conscious of this young 
man, Stephen Minor, having been in my memory for 
five-and-twenty years !" 



282 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

We leave these cases to speak for themselves. Any 
persons that in their presence would deny the exist- 
ence of the power under consideration, would not be 
convinced by any facts or arguments bearing upon 
this subject. 

3. The facts adduced by Dr. Bell, while they most 
fully sustain his and our conclusion, that no valid evi- 
dence exists of a connexion between the extraordi- 
nary facts of this new science and another world, or 
with departed spirits, the same facts as fully sustain 
the truth of our present proposition, the exclusively 
and subjective and mundane origin of these manifes- 
tations. Two hypotheses are before us pertaining to 
the origin and controlling cause of these manifesta- 
tions — the supposition that the action of this force is 
controlled, in their production, by the mental states 
of the minds in these circles ; and that it is controlled 
by those of spirits out of the same. Suppose that we 
find these communications bounded wholly by the 
range and limits of the former, and not by those of 
the latter, being generally correct where the former 
is, erring where they err, even when the spirits cannot 
but know the truth ; blundering where they blunder, 
varying as they vary, moving when and as they move, 
and stopping where and when they stop. In this 
case, all the laws and principles of science and com- 
mon sense require us to affirm the truth of the first 
hypothesis. If, on the other hand, we find these com- 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 283 

munications uniformly harmonizing with facts as they 
are when they are mutually known to the inquirer 
and the spirits professedly answering ; that when he 
errs, they accord with the facts known to the spirits, 
and that when he is wholly ignorant, and the spirits 
are known to be well informed, the real facts, and not 
incorrect answers, are uniformly given, then we should 
be bound to adopt the latter hypothesis. We have 
already shown that the phenomena of Spiritualism 
are just what they would be, were the former 
hypothesis true, and just what they could not be, if 
the latter were true. This conclusion is most fully 
sustained by the facts adduced by Dr. Bell. 

He affirms, in the first place, that during all his ob- 
servations and experiments, neither himself nor any 
individuals associated with him were able to obtain, 
in a single instance, correct answers to any questions 
pertaining to subjects lying beyond the circle of their 
knowledge, and this when the questions pertained to 
facts of which the spirits manifestly answering, if any 
were, must have been fully informed, and could not 
have forgotten, or to subjects of which they might or 
might not, but positively affirmed themselves to have 
been well informed, and that in connexion with cases 
where the most surprising accuracy was preserved in 
statements, where the truth was known to the 
inquirer. Take the following as an example. The 
spirit of an only sister of the Doctor, who " had died 



284 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

and was buried in St. Augustine, East Florida, in 
1830, and was a total stranger in this vicinity," re- 
sponded on one occasion, and after having stated 
the place of her decease and burial, the following 
facts occurred. 

" I then asked, ' With whom did you board when 
at St. Augustine?' Mr. W alien. True. 'What 
physician attended you ? ' Dr. Samuel Anderson. 
The fact was, his name was Andrew. ' Who per- 
formed your funeral services?' Mr. Nott. 'What 
was his other name ? ' Handel. Now the fact was, 
that among the many visitors for health at that city 
was a New England clergyman of that name, who 
actually performed these services. These facts could 
be known to no other person but myself. I thought 
of them at the time, as the questions were put I 
may remark, however, that I knew Dr. Anderson's 
Christian name as well as I did my own. These 
were but a few of the many questions of a domestic 
nature which I put, and which were all answered cor- 
rectly, the responses being all known to me. 

" I also made a series of inquiries, predicated on 
a previous arrangement with the family at home, 
by which every quarter of an hour they were to 
do some act, and I was simultaneously to ask what 
\yas doing. In every case, the spirit declared it 
saw distinctly what was doing, and gave a ready 
response. What was done, and what was said to 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 285 

be done, were acts of the same general nature, 
that is, putting the match in the bed, upsetting 
furniture, etc., but in no example was there any 
near coincidence." 

In cases also where a mistake existed in his mind, 
and the real facts were known to the spirit pro- 
fessedly answering, the answers, as in cases which 
we have already adduced, corresponded with the 
mistake of the inquirer, and not with the knowledge 
of the spirit. At the same time, while a spirit would 
be wholly unable to answer while the facts remained 
unknown to the inquirer, a right answer would be 
given at once as soon as he became informed. The 
following extract — the first part of which contains 
the remainder of the long communication which Dr. 
B. held as with the spirit of his brother, and the 
other part presents other important facts developed 
in subsequent interviews — presents a full verification 
of each of the above statements. 

" Q. Who was with you at the time of your death ? 
A. Dinsmore, Sears, Whitney. 

"Now I knew the true replies to every one of these 
questions, except the last, and they were all truly 
given. I had, of course, some anxiety, as all the 
others had been answered truly, to ascertain how 
the unknown one would prove. Fortunately Mr. D. 
was still alive in Kentucky, and I wrote him. He 
replied that he was not present at the death, as I 



286 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

had always supposed he was, and mentioned the 
persons who were. Neither of them was of those 
named ! 

" At another time, with another medium, this 
same brother appeared. As usual, he replied to all 
common questions I could frame, by any ingenuity, 
the replies of which were within my mind. After 
a while I said, ' My brother, I have brought here 
two letters which, on leaving home, I slipped out 
of a file of old date, and put in my pocket without 
looking at them. Now as you have answered certain 
things here (alluding to a selection of certain rolled 
up pieces of paper) which show that if you really 
are present you are capable of seeing clearly, I 
will unfold these letters behind me, and you will 
rap out alphabetically the names of the writers/ 
He replied that he could not do it 

"I made trial again of this important test some 
weeks after, by holding letters open behind me, 
which I had drawn from my file unlooked at. I 
first asked the spirit if he saw me 'clearly and dis- 
tinctly/ as we saw each other, face to face. He 
replied that he did. I then said, ' Of course you 
can see and read this letter, or its signature, which 
I hold open behind me.' Some reply was made, 
a mere subterfuge, not ad rem ; something about 
things being afterwards clear to me. I then cast 
my eye upon the signature, and saw who wrote 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 287 

the letter, and then , remarked that I was now sure 
that we should get the name correctly, because it 
was in my own, mind. The result proved the truth 
of my surmise.'' 

On a particular occasion, — we now relate what 
was given to us verbally, — the spirit of a son of 
Dr. B., a son who had died some time before while 
a student in college, responded to a young man, a 
former associate and friend of the son. A very 
marked accuracy of memory, as far as related to 
things known to the inquirer, characterized the 
entire answers coming from this spirit, so much 
so, that the young man supposed that a mistake 
in regard to real presence and identity was hardly 
possible, and so presented the subject to Dr. B. 
The father then wrote out twelve questions per- 
taining to facts well known to himself and son, 
but wholly unknown to the young man, and re- 
quested the latter to take the questions with him 
to the circle, and when the spirit of the son 
should appear again, ask him to answer the same. 
This was done, and a prompt and unqualified 
response was given to each question. Xot one of 
these answers was found to be correct, while the 
form of each was such as to render it certain that 
it was a mere guess suggested by the question 
itself, thus evincing the truth of the principle above 
stated, that in all such cases the answers will not 



288 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

only uniformly, if not invariably, be wrong, but 
will accord with the imaginings and guesses of the 
person putting them, and not with the facts as 
known to the author of them, and to the spirit 
professedly responding. 

Such are the principles which control these mani- 
festations, the world over. As to the individuals 
who, in their presence, will still hold on to the belief 
that their controlling cause is the mental states 
of spirits out of the circles, instead of the minds 
constituting them, we must "leave them alone in 
their glory/' 

THE STATEMENTS OF DR. BELL CONFIRMED BY 
KINDRED ONES FROM N. I. BOWDITCH, ESQ. 

In the manuscript volume containing the above- 
named dissertations, is a letter from N. I. Bowditch, 
Esq., addressed to Dr. Bell, on the subject discussed 
in those dissertations. From this letter we take, 
with leave, the following extract, containing very 
conclusive corroborations of the general and par- 
ticular statements of Dr. B. The character and 
standing of Mr. Bowditch, together w T ith his well- 
known relations to Spiritualism, will add much 
interest and weight to his facts and statements. 

" I have found my most successful sessions to 
be those where I was alone with the medium, or 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 289 

attended only by one friend. During the whole 
two hours I have had often entirely accurate answers 
to a series of mental questions, some of them such 
that the answer could not be known to any other 
human being than myself. For instance, I wrote 
certain lines as from a young girl, lately dead, to 
her father, describing her reunion with her deceased 
mother, the love they both bore him, etc. The 
answers gave the character of the paper, the num- 
ber of its lines, and, at my request, accurately re- 
peated the last lines of the last stanza, namely, — 

* 1 ' And while thy years of life shall last, 
Life's noblest ends still keep in view, 
By each dear memory of the past, 
To us, thyself, thy God, be true ! ' 

" I am satisfied, as you are, that the answers are 
according to our thought or belief, even if erroneous. 
On two different occasions, once when I was in com- 
munication, a spirit gave its own name as William 
instead of Thomas, because I thought it was William. 
And, at another time, when a friend was in communi- 
cation, a wife made the same mistake in her hus- 
band's name. My friend announced the mistake, as 
a gross failure. I suggested this disturbing influence, 
and shut up my eyes, while he tried the question 
again, and got the true name, Thomas. 

"A strong and determined will can also get 
answers known to be false. Dr. H. T. Bigelow went 



290 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



with me to Mrs. Heyden (while we used pencils). 
The letters touched by him would be negatived (by 
single raps), some of them five or six different times ; 
but after knocking at a particular letter over and 
over again, three raps would at last come. Having 
once come, Dr. B. would say, Are you sure that this 
is the right letter i 3 — three raps, or yes. In this way 
he compelled the spirit to say that its name was 
'Miserable Humbug' — that spirits lived on ' pork 
and beans,' etc., through a series of absurdities. Had 
I never been present at any other session, I should 
unhesitatingly have arrived at his conclusion, namely, 
that the medium knew (by his loud and emphatic 
pointing and striking at particular letters) where the 
raps were wanted, and made them accordingly ; and 
that it was all a delusion. 

" Like you I have failed, in a single case, to verify 
as true a fact stated which at the time was not in my 
own mind. On the contrary, time and time again, 
answers have been made, without any words of doubt 
or hesitation, which have proved to be false. Some- 
times, however, there has been a candid statement of 
inability to answer. I had asked mentally the num- 
ber of my watch. It was given correctly — 5,763. Mr. 
S. G. Ward was present, and said aloud, ' Can you 
give the number of my watch V Neither of us knew 
it. I repeated the question, and got, No. I said, 
' Why?' The alphabet spelt out, ( I cannot do it! I 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed, 291 

said, i If W. shows it to me, can you then repeat it ? ' 
' Yes.' Mr. W. opened his watch under the table and 
showed me the number, and I at once got the true 
answer. Excuses are sometimes made for palpable 
blunders. Thus the same young friend (dead only 
ten days before) gave Nathaniel Bowditch Mason 
instead of Alfred Mason, as the name of a young 
cousin who had died a few years before. The true 
name was known to me. I asked, i How could you 
make such a mistake of name?' It was a mental 
question. The answer was, ' The fact is, I am so 
much absorbed in my new and beautiful home that / 
have almost forgotten my own name. 5 " 

We make but two remarks upon the important 
facts and statements here presented : — 

(1.) The particular conclusion which the friend of 
Mr. B. drew from the ludicrous facts which he wit- 
nessed, was occasioned by the assumption, on his 
part, that those responses were produced by spirits, or 
by imposition on the part of the medium. Had the 
third hypothesis been in his mind, he would undoubt- 
edly, if well informed in regard to facts, have drawn 
the far more evident conclusion, that the action of 
this force was, in this case, governed by his own men- 
tal states, the supposition that such answers could 
come from spirits, good or bad, being out of the 
question. 

(2.) The fact that such men as Dr. Bell and Squire 



292 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



Bowditch, a devoted spiritualist, in all the widely- 
extended investigations which they have made, have 
never " been able, in a single case, to verify as true a 
fact stated, which was not in their mind at the time/' 
goes very far to justify the very common opinion that 
no such revelations are ever obtained in these circles. 
For ourselves, we have yet, to our best recollections, 
to meet with the first individual, not a spiritualist, 
who has himself obtained any such communication, 
or witnessed its occurrence on the part of others. 
We still think, however, that such communications 
have, in instances exceedingly rare, been obtained, 
and that for the following reasons : — 

(a) The evidence presented in such facts as are 
now before us, only renders the non-occurrence of 
such communications probable, and not certain. 

(b) We think that adequate evidence of their real 
occurrence, in the form stated, is before the public. 

(c) From the analogy of facts attending the action 
of this force, in other relations, there ought to occur 
just such facts as are authentically reported to occur 
in these circles, supposing no agency of spirits is ever 
exerted in them, and they ought to have the identical 
characteristics, and none others, that they do possess. 
For ourselves, we are rather embarrassed in the de- 
velopment of our theory with the infrequency of such 
occurrences, than with the real facts themselves, or 
with any of their characteristics. 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 293 

Mr. B, says, " I have found my most successful 
sessions to be those when I was alone with the 
medium, or attended only by one friend." The 
reason is obvious. There were, in such cases, no 
other minds present, minds whose mental states 
would disturb the action of the odylic force, and 
whose thoughts would be consequently unconsciously 
intermingled with those of the inquirer. This fact 
strikingly corroborates the theory which w r e maintain. 
If spirits out of the body controlled the action of this 
force, it would make no difference how many living 
persons were in the circle. 

IMPORTANT FACTS FURNISHED BY A NEW ENGLAND 
CONGREGATIONAL CLERGYMAN. 

The next case which w 7 e cite was furnished us by a 
New England Congregational clergyman of unques- 
tionable integrity and intelligence (names are with- 
held by special request), and presents so many 
interesting features bearing fundamentally upon our 
present inquiries, that we would invite very special 
attention to it. It presents a number of facts which 
he witnessed in a circle of which, by mere accident, 
he became a member, he having in the course of a 
walk for a totally different object called at the house 
of a friend whose daughter w r as one of his former 
pupils in an academy of which he had been for 



. 294 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

several years the principal, and was, as he learned, 
after he entered the house, a medium. A spirit-circle 
was accordingly formed, consisting of the teacher, 
the father, mother, and daughter, the gentlemen 
sitting on one side of the table, and the ladies on the 
other. The following are the prominent facts deve- 
loped during this sitting, which continued upwards of 
four hours : — 

(i.) The same evidence of presence and identity, 
the same ability to read correctly our secret 
thoughts, to reveal names, and ages, and any events 
of the past as they, one and all, stood in the mind of 
the inquirer, were manifested by the spirits of brutes, 
and even of inanimate objects, as are, in any in- 
stances, manifested by the spirits of men. It was 
found, also, that the great central wonder of Spirit- 
ualism, one spirit going after an absent one and 
returning with him at a specified time agreed upon, 
could be perfectly paralleled by the spirit of the 
brute. The spirit of a certain animal, for example, 
was asked if he could go and bring that of another 
that was named, and answered, yes. He was told to 
do it, and be back again in just one minute and 
a half by the watch. The instant the hand of the 
watch came over the right second, there was a rap 
to indicate the arrival of the spirit sent for. After 
affirming his actual presence, he was asked, as proof 
of his identity, to give his age. The precise number, 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 295 

nineteen, existing in the mind of the inquirer, was 
promptly given by raps. It was subsequently found 
that there was a mistake of several years in the 
answer given, thus most fully evincing the fact that 
the spirit of the brute fails precisely where and as that 
of man does. N. B. — Both animals were then alive. 

(2.) This clergyman, by observations and experi- 
ments about which there could be no mistake, found 
that he could exercise an absolute control over the 
action of this power in the medium. When, for 
example, she would attempt to write, she being a 
writing as well as rapping medium, he could, by 
simply willing it, while no one had the least sus- 
picion of what he was doing, stop her hand entirely, 
cause it to move up and down, so that the pencil 
should make nothing but dots on the paper, and 
then cause her to go on with the writing as 
before. 

(3.) He also obtained the most palpable and con- 
clusive evidence that the medium was in a mesmeric 
state, and that the other persons present sustained 
the precise relations to her that the mesmerizer does 
to the person mesmerized. For example, having 
occasion to reach his hand across the table to a 
letter of the alphabet, as his hand came near that 
of the medium, hers was instantly forcibly attracted 
towards his, so that the end of the pencil in her 
hand struck his with such violence as to leave a 



296 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



mark there, and to occasion some pain at the time. 
Recollecting that this was the first rude act that 
he had ever witnessed in her, he was led to look 
into her eyes, and immediately discovered, from her 
appearance, that she was in a magnetic state. To 
verify that thought, he said to her, " Your hand is 
fastened to the top of the table, and you can't 
take it off." The medium made every possible 
effort to withdraw her hand, but found it impossible 
to move it. " Now," says the minister, " your left 
hand must come up and be fastened by the side 
of the other." The medium declared, with the in- 
tensest excitement, that it should not be so. The 
hand, however, gradually came up, and when it 
came over the top of the table, descended upon 
it, as if suddenly drawn down by a resistless at- 
tractive force. By no effort could she move either 
hand, till, by an act of will, he released her. By 
subsequent experiments, he found that her entire 
powers, mental and physical, were under his abso- 
lute control. Without any external sign whatever, 
for example, he simply willed that she should turn 
round, and fix her eyes upon a picture that hung 
upon the wall of the room. Instantly she turned 
round and fixed her eyes upon the object referred 
to. He then willed that she should look steadfastly 
at an object in the hands of her mother, and her 
eyes were instantly fixed in that direction. When 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 297 

asked why she looked at those objects, her answer 
was, that, at that time, she wanted to do it. He 
then merely willed that she should leave her chair 
and seat herself upon the sofa, and she did so. At 
one time he made her weep at the thought that 
she had disobeyed her mother, nothing of the kind 
having occurred ; and at another made her think 
that her own father was a rude and vulgar boy 
whom she had before seen. As a last experiment, 
he wished to know whether he could induce in her 
a mental perception of an object of which he had 
a remembrance, but which was unlike anything 
of whom she had any knowledge. He recollected 
having seen, in Virginia, years before, a cedar tree 
about twenty feet high, a tree the boughs of which 
were in a conical form, from near the ground to 
the top. The body of the tree was encircled by a 
trumpet vine, the blossoms of which, then in full 
bloom, completely covered it in all directions, just 
standing out in the midst of its foliage. Altogether 
it was the most beautiful objtct that he had ever 
seen in the vegetable kingdom before. He conse- 
quently stopped for some time to look at and admire 
it. The medium, as he well knew, had never in her 
life seen a cedar tree of that species, nor such a 
vine, and especially the two combined as in this 
instance. Nor had she ever heard of his having 
seen such an object. He wished to know whether 



298 ,.- Phenomena of Spiritualism 



he could induce in her, and that without uttering a 
syllable himself about the object in his own mind, 
a mental perception of that object. He accordingly 
put a book into her hand, requesting her to look 
into that mirror, and tell him what she saw. The 
book immediately became a mirror to her, and after 
looking into it a few moments, she exclaimed with 
the intensest delight : " I never saw so beautiful an 
object in my life. It is a tree ; I never saw such 
a tree. It looks somewhat like a hemlock, and it 
is covered all over with beautiful flowers. They are 
shaped like a trumpet, and they are of an orange 
colour. I never saw so beautiful an object in my 
life." Thus, he said, she described that before to 
her totally unknown and unheard-of object as dis- 
tinctly as he could have done himself, so perfectly 
was his own purely mental conception reproduced 
in her mind, and that without a motion on his part 
to afford the remotest indication of the particular 
object of which he was thinking.* 

The reader will not be surprised to learn that 
through these important and fundamental facts the 
mysteries of Spiritualism stood distinctly revealed 
to the mind of this individual, and that from that 
time onward he has had the most unwavering con- 

* Since writing the above, we have read the same to the individual 
from whom the facts were derived, and he indorses the whole as 
unqualifiedly correct. 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 2 59 

viction that the medium after all is none other than 
a magnetic subject in whom the thoughts of those 
in the circles are, upon principles and laws purely 
natural, unconsciously reproduced, and for that 
reason received as responses from spirits out of 
the circles. There is not a solitary phenomenon 
of Spiritualism which does not fall in with this 
view, and when rightly apprehended does not affirm 
its truth. On the same principle that the medium's 
hand was so powerfully attracted towards that of 
her teacher, the table itself, or any other object 
between which and her organism the same force 
was developed in the same manner, would have 
followed her all round the room. Or, if it was 
developed between them, in different polarity, then 
it would have fled from her in apparent terror, run- 
ning violently against certain objects, and from 
others. If the same force, as in some instances, 
was developed in still greater power, then there 
would have been a sensible jarring of surrounding 
objects, and rumbling sounds, as of distant thunder, 
or the far-off firing of ordnance. The medium was 
undeniably, at the same time that she was a writing 
and rapping medium, in a clairvoyant state. Sup- 
pose that, like the mesmeric subject of J. M. Brooke, 
Esq., she had possessed also, as might have been 
the case, the power of independent clairvoyance which 
that subject did possess. Then, w T hile the thoughts 



3<jO Phenomena of Spiritualism 

of those who were present were reproduced in her, 
and embodied as spirit-voices in her communications, 
there would have been mingled with these the reve- 
lation of certain facts perceived, at the moment, by 
her on purely natural principles, facts unknown to 
any present, and all presented as from " the spirits." 
Thus we have the new information which is sometimes 
obtained in these circles, — revelations, none of which 
present the least indication of the presence and 
agency of "the spirits," but all of which are per- 
fectly explicable on purely natural principles. 

A passing remark is deemed requisite here upon 
a fact stated by Dr. Bell and others, as peculiarizing 
these revelations, the fact that the thought, and not 
the language, of the inquirer is commonly embodied 
in them. In general it is, as in the mental per- 
ception of the tree above presented, the thought 
only that is reproduced in the mind of the medium. 
Sometimes, but not generally, both the language 
and thought are reproduced. This accords with the 
statements of spiritualists as well as of others. 

Interesting and illustrative facts furnished 
the author by a pastor of one of the 
churches in the city of cleveland, ohio. 
An influential pastor of one of the churches in the 
city of Cleveland, Ohio, made to us personally the 
following statements, he being, as he stated, possessed 



Scientifically Explained a?id Exposed. 301 



of very strong mesmeric power. With the phenomena 
of Spiritualism he had made himself perfectly familiar. 
When in any circle he ever attended, he could, by 
secretly willing it, and doing nothing more, utterly sus- 
pend all manifestations of every kind, the operations 
always going on as before the moment he mentally 
suspended his secret prohibitory fiat. In a similar 
manner he could exercise any kind of control he 
chose over these manifestations. One evening as he 
called at the house of a friend, one of his members, 
he found a company of youths there engaged in dis- 
cussing the merits of Spiritualism. On enquiry, he 
found that there was not present a single believer in 
the system. He then proposed that they should 
seat themselves with him around a table, and deter- 
mine, as a matter of mere scientific inquiry, what re- 
sults would follow. The dining-table was selected, 
and soon after the circle was formed the table began 
to move. It was soon found that the direction of its 
motions was under the complete control of one or 
two individuals, who were manifestly more affected 
by the power developed than the rest. If they willed 
it to turn round it would do so with great rapidity. 
At their bidding it would stop, turn round in the 
opposite direction, stand upon one or two legs, and 
* tip out, by the alphabet, intelligent answers to any 
questions put to it, the answers corresponding to the 
thoughts of individuals present. It was asked to 



302 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



give the age of this clergyman, A certain number 
of motions up and down were made, and then 
they ceased. On inquiry, before the individual had 
answered the question whether a right answer had 
been given, it was found that the number desig- 
nated was the precise number previously fixed 
upon by one or more of the controlling minds 
present, though it was wrong by some eight or ten 
years. Such were the manifestations obtained for 
the very purpose of proving Spiritualism false. Who 
can believe that spirits would produce movements 
thus to disprove their own favourite system ? We 
might adduce many other cases of a precisely similar 
character. We should be guilty of infinite folly, 
then, did we attribute such acts to the agency of 
disembodied spirits. 

XII. A PECULIAR CLASS OF FALSE ANSWERS 
CONTINUALLY OBTAINED IN THESE CIRCLES EVINCE 
THE EXCLUSIVELY MUNDANE ORIGIN OF THESE 
PHENOMENA. 

We now call attention to a certain class of 
false answers which are continuously given forth in 
these circles. Of the false answers in general here 
obtained, we will speak in another place. We now 
refer to a particular class only, a class to which we 
have already alluded, namely, the continuous occur- 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 303 

rence of false answers to questions pertaining to 
subjects well known both to inquirers and to the 
spirits professedly communicating, and in respect to 
which a failure of memory, or inadvertent mistake on 
the part of spirits is not supposable. The following 
statement of Dr. Bell is but the embodiment of the 
constant experience and observation of every one, as 
far as our knowledge extends, who has had any con- 
siderable personal experience in the spirit-circles : — 

"The ' spirits' of your friends, while they announce 
to you many most extraordinary facts and truths, 
even in reply to unspoken questions, fail in many 
others, where you cannot yield them the charity of 
having forgotten, or being in ignorance. I do not 
now allude to the silly tests which many very saga- 
cious persons have put, such as complex questions in 
mathematics, or in far-off dialects, as if spirits were 
presumed to be omniscient ; or in relation to future 
events, as if they had the gift of foreknowledge. I 
mean that when you test your deceased relatives, 
while they are most free in expressing advice, etc., 
to you, with such simple questions as involve a re- 
cognition of the most marked events of your mutual 
knowledge, they constantly fail." 

Now we affirm that such facts cannot be accounted 
for, in accordance with any laws of mind known to 
us, on the supposition that these communications 
proceed from intelligent beings, good or bad, who 



304 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



are holding intelligent communication with us, and 
who know whereof they affirm. Much less can they 
be accounted for on the supposition that they come 
from the particular class of departed spirits from 
whom they professedly proceed. No such facts 
characterize any forms of intercourse between any 
class of minds in the body. We know very well 
that the worst liars on earth do not thus falsify. 
Much less did our venerated parents, when with us 
in the flesh, as their assumed spirits now do, con- 
tinuously falsify in regard to subjects well known 
to us and to them, and when they well knew that 
the falsehood must be at once detected. Never did 
such answers come to us from them when they were 
with us. How, then, can we suppose that such 
answers proceed from their spirits, when they come 
to visit and communicate with us, from their " angels' 
home " ? It is impossible to account for such com- 
munications, even on the supposition that these com- 
munications generally are from fallen spirits. Devils 
even would not thus falsify. 

On the other hand, if these communications are 
the unconscious echoes of our own thoughts, they 
could not but have these very characteristics. We 
ask a question, for example, and then before the 
answer is given turn our thoughts in some other 
direction. If the responses follow the current of our 
thinking at the moment, and are determined by the 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 305 

same, then a wrong answer will be obtained of course, 
and just the kind of answer that is obtained. 

It is upon this one supposition only, that we can, 
by any possibility, account for the facts before us. A 
brother, as we have stated in another connexion, asks 
the spirit of a sister to give the name of their father, 
which is John, for example, and before the answer 
comes, his thoughts happen, by the laws of asso- 
ciation, to be turned upon that of their brother, which 
is Thomas. If the answer is determined by the 
thought in the inquirers mind at the moment, then 
Thomas, the name of the brother, and not John, that 
of the father, will be given, of course. This is the 
precise character of the false answers continuously 
given forth as by the spirits in these circles. We say 
that such facts cannot be accounted for but upon the 
supposition that these peculiar communications pro- 
ceed, not from "the spirits," but that they are the 
unconscious product of the wandering thoughts of the 
enquirers themselves. We are perfectly sure that 
spiritualists will never attempt to account for these 
peculiar facts in accordance with their theory. 

XIII. Enquiries made for the specific pur- 
pose OF DETERMINING, not only the location 

OF THE CONTROLLING CAUSE OF THESE PHENOMENA, 
BUT OF THE EXTENT OF THE CONTROL WHICH 
COULD BE EXERCISED OVER THESE PHENOMENA. 

20 



306 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

We now refer to a class of experiments which indi- 
viduals have made for the purpose of determining, 
not only the location of this cause, but of ascertaining 
the kind and extent of control they could exercise over 
it. It is well known that no spirits, good or bad, will 
voluntarily render themselves the objects of the con- 
tempt and ridicule of those over whom they desire to 
retain a controlling influence, as the spirits undeniably 
do over the minds of men in this world. Yet we find 
among these communications numberless responses 
obtained for the express purpose of determining, in 
the first instance, how far they can be controlled, and, 
in the next, of rendering the whole subject ridiculous. 
If spirits do respond to inquiries drawing forth such 
responses, they must do it with a perfect knowledge 
of the designs of the inquirers, and of the tendency of 
the answers given to their questions. By no laws of 
mind can we account for responses given to questions 
which are put for such a purpose, and when the 
answers must be known to be adapted, most perfectly 
so, to secure the intended result and none other. Let 
us consider a few facts of this class, examples of 
which are everywhere occurring in these circles. The 
case of the gentleman in Boston to whom the spirit 
communicating revealed himself under the name of 
Miserable Humbug, and affirmed that spirits in the 
celestial spheres live on pork and beans, and all this 
in accordance with a previous determination in the 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 307 

inquirer's mind, is already before our readers, and is a 
case now in point. Let us consider another case of a 
similar character. When Mrs. Fish was in the state 
of Ohio, she visited the village of Hamilton for the 
purpose of multiplying disciples, not to hint a pecu- 
niary motive. Her success, for a time, was wonder- 
ful, all who entered the circles being convinced. At 
length, some ten individuals agreed together to deter- 
mine, by an experiment, what answers could be 
obtained from the spirits. They accordingly framed 
their questions and answers beforehand, and agreed 
upon a mode of questioning which would not awaken 
the suspicions of the medium. The departed spirit 
which responded to the first inquirer, gave his name 
as u the devil," affirmed himself to have been dead for 
two years, and to sustain to the inquirer the relation 
of uncle. The departed spirit which responded to the 
next inquirer was that of our informant, who was 
then in the circle. This spirit had been dead for six 
months, and died of hydrophobia. By this time 
some of the circle found it impossible to restrain their 
laughter, when Mrs. Fish remarked that the spirits 
were probably lying to the inquirers. On being in- 
formed of what had transpired, the circle was broken 
up, and the next morning she left the place. Who 
can believe that if intelligent minds stood behind 
this power, and directed its action, they would suffer 
themselves to be thus trifled with, and would lend 



308 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

their own voluntary agency to render themselves the 
objects of deserved contempt and ridicule ? Yet " the 
spirits," in any circle on earth, will as readily respond 
to such questions as to any others, and will become, 
when the inquirer wills it, and has presence of mind 
and self-command sufficient to carry out his purposes, 
the agents of their own infamy or contempt. No 
limits can be set to the extent to which this power 
can be used for such purposes. Now we say that 
depravity itself never assumes such forms, and by no 
laws of mind can we account for such communications 
coming from disembodied spirits, either good or bad. 
If, on the other hand, our theory is true, nothing 
else could be expected. Just such phenomena, in 
that case, would appear, and in the very form which 
they now present themselves ; and upon no other 
hypothesis can such facts, which, in legion forms, 
everywhere present themselves in these circles, be 
explained. 

Since the child in the family to which we have re- 
ferred became a medium, and since the communica- 
tion from the spirit of a living person, supposed by 
them at the time to be dead, was obtained, the mem- 
bers of the family have been accustomed to amuse 
themselves by seeing what absurd communications 
they can obtain, as illustrations of the absolute con- 
trol which they can exert over this mysterious power. 
The following may be stated as the results of their 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed, 309 

experiments and observations ; and we have had an 
opportunity to converse with the family very often 
since these phenomena appeared, which was in or 
near the commencement of the year 1854. (1.) Any 
spirits will answer that they choose to call up. (2.) 
Any answers can be obtained from any spirits, that they 
will mentally conceive of and choose to have rapped 
or written out. (3.) They now obtain, as a general 
fact, absurd and ridiculous answers, answers indorsed 
by odd names, because they choose to have such and 
no others, the answers and names always according 
with their previous choice. (4.) Nothing is, or can be, 
more manifest to their minds than the fact that they 
themselves, and not spirits out of the body, control 
this force, in all the answers which they obtain. (5.) 
That control has remained just as absolute since 
they came to this conviction, as before ; since they 
have utterly repudiated Spiritualism, as when they 
were sincerely inquiring whether it was true or not. 
A daughter of ours, when present on one occasion, 
while the force was being developed, willed secretly 
that her own name should be designated. This she 
did for the purpose of determining the real cause of 
these manifestations. Her name came out accord- 
ingly. Would "the spirits" thus disprove their own 
presence and agency, when, if Spiritualism is true 
they desire to convince all the world that they alone 
can originate such phenomena ? 



3 1 o Phenomena of Spiritualism 



XIV. Important evidence obtained from 

THE OBSERVATIONS AND TESTIMONY OF INDI- 
VIDUALS WHO HAVE THEMSELVES BEEN MEDIUMS. 

We now invite very special attention to the testL 
mony and experience of intelligent persons who have 
themselves been mediums. Facts derived from this 
source must be regarded as most decisive in their 
bearings, because such persons have had the best 
opportunities for examination ; and when they have 
come to the full conclusion that phenomena pre- 
sented through them are produced by exclusively 
mundane causes, their opinions and statements must 
be deserving of the greatest consideration. Among 
the cases falling under this class, we notice the 
following : — 

We are well acquainted with a very intelligent 
gentleman, for example, through whom, when the 
proper conditions are fulfilled, all the phenomena 
of the spirit-rappings can at any time be obtained. 
He says that he has no conception that these phe- 
nomena are connected at all with any ab extra 
spirit-agency, and that for this reason, that when 
it is known what answer should be given to any 
question proposed, the true answer will uniformly 
be given, and when this is not known, the answer 
will be right or wrong, just as it happens. These 
are the uniform characteristics of these communica- 
tions everywhere. If the inquirer or medium knows 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 311 

what the answer should be, it will be generally 
right. In all other cases, it has the characteristics 
ot the most uncertain guessing. What facts can 
with certainty identify any communications as being 
wholly earthly, and not at all ab extra spiritual in 
their origin, if these do not ? 

We met some years ago a very intelligent lady who 
had been a medium, and who had presented such com- 
munications as to convince an aged atheist, among 
others, of the reality of spiritual existences. To us 
she remarked that when she first became subject 
to these influences she had no doubt whatever of 
their ab extra spiritual origin, so unconscious was 
she of any agency of her own in their production. 
But when she narrowly watched her own mental 
operations, and marked the perfect and regular 
correspondence between these phenomena and her 
own prior mental states, she was led to doubt the 
whole system of Spiritualism altogether. If all 
mediums were thus self-reflective, and thus honest, 
they would all, we venture to affirm, come to the 
same conclusion. 

A scientific physician in the state of Michigan, 
who has, for a long period, been a writing medium, 
has, after similar observations and experiments, come 
to the same conclusion. There is a mystery about 
the subject, as he stated to our informant, President 
Fairfield, then of the Freewill Baptist College in that 



312 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

state, which he has never been able to explain. Yet 
the facts taken together precluded wholly the idea 
of their spirit-origin. They are too puerile, too self- 
contradictory and lawless in their character to admit 
of any such supposition. 

The following case we cite from " Rogers' Philo- 
sophy of Mysterious Rappings." On many accounts 
it possesses much interest : — 

" Now take the following case, the like of which 
we have seen in several other instances : Jane A. D., 
daughter of a physician, had become a ' writing and 
tipping medium/ and could obtain slight responses 
by the sounds. She believed herself to be a ' medium 1 
for communications from a deceased cousin, who, 
with herself, had been passionately fond of poetry. 
Jane carried on these communications by herself for 
some time, for her own satisfaction, but mostly as a 
writing medium. She had not, after some few of 
the first communications, the slightest doubt of the 
reality of all this being the work of a pure spirit, 
until the following circumstance took place. A 
communication was made of a beautiful stanza of 
poetry, from what purported to be the spirit of her 
young friend, and was declared as original. Jane 
was so much delighted with the remarkable circum- 
stance, and with the perfect sweetness of the lines, 
that she took them to her father and related the 
circumstances. He saw that the style of hand- 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 313 

writing was that of his daughter's late friend, and 
was greatly amazed at the mystery. The fact of 
the identity of the handwriting was not, indeed, to 
be questioned ; and since he knew his daughter 
to be truthful even' way, he determined to examine 
into the wonderful phenomena. The following even- 
ing was, therefore, spent in experiments and conver- 
sation upon the subject. Everything was, however, 
to be kept profoundly secret in the family, as there 
was so much said in derision of the 'rappers.' 'That 
night, 5 says Jane, 'while I was dwelling on those 
beautiful lines, and my heart was swelling with joy 
that my own dear parents had become interested 
in the phenomena, it flashed across my mind that 
I had either heard or read the same lines before 
somewhere. But I did not wish to think so, and yet 
I desired to know the truth. It, at last, appeared, 
to me, fresh in my memory, the very place where 
and when I had read it. It was while alone and 
lonely, just after the setting of a beautiful September 
sun, and the lines were from that sweet poem of 
Longfellow, 'The Footsteps of Angels' ;— 

" ' Uttered not, yet comprehended, 
Is the spirit's voiceless prayer, 
Soft rebuke, in blessings ended, 
Breathing from her lips of air/ n 

No one can wonder that the confidence of this 
medium and that of her friends, in the doctrine of 



3 1 4 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

Spiritualism, was utterly shaken by such an occur- 
rence. This communication was, undeniably, exclu- 
sively mundane in its origin ; and yet it bore upon 
its face all the evidence of an exclusively spirit- 
origin that any other does, or can do. It came as 
from a spirit. It was positively affirmed by that 
spirit, whose integrity could not be doubted, to have 
been original, and it was given in the handwriting, 
not of the medium, but of the individual whose spirit 
professedly originated it, and directed the hand that 
wrote it. The medium, too, had no consciousness, 
at the time, that any thought pre-existing in her 
own mind had anything to do with the subject. 
This single case, therefore, utterly annihilates the 
highest evidence ever adduced by spiritualists in 
proof of the spirit-origin of these manifestations; for 
it embodies the most fundamental facts which they 
ever do adduce for this end. At the same time, it 
presents the most conclusive proof of the truth of 
the opposite theory, that which we maintain as the 
only true one. 

A few years since we met with an intelligent 
clergyman, one to whom we have already referred 
in another connexion, of the Episcopal Church, who 
had, for some years, had the phenomena of table- 
moving and other spirit-manifestations in his own 
family; himself, wife, and daughter, together being 
mediums. When these phenomena first appeared in 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 315 

his family, he sincerely believed in their real spirit- 
origin, and supposed that they could be reduced to 
scientific principles. After the most careful and 
extensive experiments and observations, however, 
he had come to precisely the opposite conclusion. 
In questioning any spirit, for example, some re- 
sponses appear to indicate his actual presence. 
Others which arise in the same connexion, however, 
utterly preclude such a supposition ; the supposition, 
too, that they do or can come from any intelligent 
minds out of the body, the communications, from 
whatever minds apparently proceeding, being often 
so utterly puerile, self-contradictory, and lawless in 
their character. " If there is in nature," he remarked, 
" a nerve fluid whose action accords with our mental 
states, and commonly with the ordinary random 
thoughts which run off from the surface of the mind, 
and these manifestations are the result of such action, 
they would, in that case, be just what I have found 
them to be." Now we affirm, without fear of con- 
tradiction, that a more striking and accurate 
description of the character of these manifestations 
can, by no possibility, be given, and this is most 
manifestly their real cause. The facts preclude any 
other supposition. 

Of a precisely similar character and bearing is 
the following fact, which we find in the North 
American Review: "We are confirmed in our belief 



3 1 6 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



of the subjective character of these phenomena by 
a conversation with a highly respectable clergyman, 
who a few years ago, to his own surprise, found 
himself a writing medium, and was, for many months, 
in the frequent habit of writing under this singular 
influence, without premeditation, often without know- 
ing what he was inditing, or whose name he was 
going to sign. He at first fell into the popular 
notion, but became gradually convinced, by the in- 
congruity and absurdity of much he wrote, and by 
the dreamlike character of the whole, that he had 
been putting upon paper, not the behest of unseen 
spirits, but the results of some unexplained mode 
of his own consciousness.'' 

We adduce but one additional fact connected 
with the class under consideration. A venerable 
lady, Mrs. C, of the Society of Friends, in Rhode 
Island, herself a medium, and who had, for a long 
time, been a most devoted spiritualist, requested the 
Hon. Mr. B., a member of Congress, whose wife, 
the sister of Mrs. C, had died some time before, 
to sit with her at a table, and receive communi- 
cations from the spirit of their departed friend and 
endeared relation. Mr. B., though an unbeliever in 
Spiritualism, of course complied with the request, 
and for an hour or two held a very interesting 
conversation apparently with the spirit referred to. 
At length Mr. B. asked the following question : 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 317 

"What did you do with those letters which passed 
between us before our marriage, letters which I com- 
mitted to your care some eight or ten years ago, 
and you promised to preserve ? I have searched 
for those letters in every place where I can even 
imagine them to be, and have not been able to 
find them. What did you do with them ?" " I 
burned them," was the reply received. "Why did 
you do that ?" " I thought that no good would come 
from preserving them, ,, was the reply, "and there- 
fore burned them. And now, as I assure you that 
I love you as truly and ardently as I did when 
with you in the body, you will not regret that I 
burned those letters." Subsequently those letters 
were found carefully preserved, as promised. The 
faith of Mrs. C. in Spiritualism itself was of course 
terribly shocked when this fact was made known. 
The conversation referred to presented all the evi- 
dence of real spirit-intercourse that can be presented 
in any case whatever, and no spirit could be identi- 
fied, if that of her sister was not on that occasion. 
Yet the known character of her sister utterly pre- 
cluded the supposition that such a reckless falsehood 
could proceed from her spirit. On the other hand, 
if the thoughts of the husband really determined the 
answer obtained, its character was accounted for, 
and this was the only explanation which the facts 
of the case admitted. How any individual, in the 



3 1 8 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

presence of such facts, can remain a spiritualist, is 
to us a greater mystery than is involved in any of 
the so-called spirit-manifestations of which we have 
ever heard. 

XV. Disagreements and contradictions in 

THESE COMMUNICATIONS INCOMPATIBLE WITH THE 
IDEA OF THEIR EXTRA-MUNDANE ORIGIN. 

There are forms of disagreement and contradiction 
among these communications which are utterly in- 
compatible with the idea of their spirit, and equally 
demonstrative of their exclusively mundane, origin. 
Differences of opinion do, on certain subjects, as we 
well know, obtain among men in the flesh, and, for 
aught that we know, may obtain among disembodied 
spirits. There are certain subjects, however, on which 
minds in the same locality never differ. There is no 
dispute in America, for example, in regard to 
any such question as this, whether Boston or New 
York is located on the Atlantic or Pacific coast. It 
is upon precisely similar questions pertaining to 
the spirit-world, that an irreconcilable difference of 
opinion does obtain among " the spirits." In regard 
to the location of the spirit-circles, for example, the 
mode of living and intercourse among spirits, their 
relations to other worlds, the character of spirits, 
whether all are good or not, whether evil spirits 
return to virtue, or eternally progress in sin and 



Scientifically Explained a7id Exposed. 319 

misery, — in regard to all such subjects, about which 
spirits can no more differ than living men can differ 
about the question whether grain harvests, in these 
northern latitudes, come in summer or winter, the 
most contradictory and irreconcilable accounts are 
given by " the spirits," and by spirits, too, of the 
highest orders that ever speak to us in these com- 
munications. In a spirit-circle in the city of Cleve- 
land, for example, the spirit of Dr. Channing affirmed 
absolutely, Mrs. Fish being the medium, that there 
are no evil spirits at all in eternity, and that there is 
no unhappiness there ; that when " the body dies, pro- 
pensity to evil dies with it, and that all of man pro- 
gresses in happiness." In the same circles another 
spirit, equally reliable, affirmed, with equal absolute- 
ness, that while the good, in eternity, a eternally 
progress in goodness, the evil eternally progress 
in evil." A similar difference and contradiction 
obtain on all subjects whatever about which the 
spirits communicate. Let any one read the accounts 
given by the spirits of Paine and others, and in the 
publications of Judge Edmonds, about the spirit- 
circles, and he will perceive at once that here are 
contradictions which could not obtain among minds 
speaking from personal knowledge, — the subjects 
being of such a nature that there can be no motive 
to deceive, and no essential difference of opinion in 
regard to them among minds speaking from such 



320 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

knowledge. Just such a diversity, however, could not 
fail to obtain did these communications contain 
nothing but the reflections of human opinions on 
these subjects, and were determined by such 
opinions. 

XVI. False communications which can be 

ACCOUNTED FOR BUT UPON THE MUNDANE HYPO- 
THESIS. 

The last class of facts which we adduce, are the 
numberless false communications which are continu- 
ously received in these circles, communications per- 
taining to subjects of which we cannot suppose "the 
spirits " to be ignorant, and in respect to which it 
is the height of absurdity to suppose they would 
intentionally convey false information ; or to subjects 
about which they would not make positive affirma- 
tion if not well informed. Even men in the flesh 
do not falsify without a motive, and especially when 
they cannot but know that their falsehoods will 
soon be revealed. Now " the spirits " have not the 
common prudence of deceivers among men, in the 
particulars under consideration. They often, as is 
well known, give false information in respect to 
subjects of which it is absurd to suppose them 
ignorant, and where the error, as real spirits must 
be aware, will not fail, in a very short time, to come 
to light. We cannot but know that truthful spirits 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 321 

will not make such communications. They will not 
profess a knowledge of that of which they are 
ignorant. They will not assert as true what they 
know to be false, nor make positive assertions when 
they cannot but know that they should profess 
nothing but uncertain guessing. Xor will lying 
spirits do the same when they cannot but be aware 
that their attempted deceptions will soon be de- 
tected, and confidence in their communications will 
thereby be annihilated. Precisely such communi- 
cations as these are continuously given forth in 
these circles. A friend of ours, for example, once 
requested a medium, who was then under the imme- 
diate control of "the spirits" as much so as any 
medium ever is, or professes to be, to ask "the 
spirits " how many gas-burners were then burning in 
the room where they were at the time. I do not 
know," said our friend, "and keep your own head 
down, so that you will remain ignorant of the real 
number." On being asked by the medium, " the 
spirits" gave the number as four. After being 
requested to decide with perfect deliberation, they 
adhered to the number first given. The true number 
was found to have been five. The medium, who had 
been a professed Christian, had just before said that 
he had given up faith in the Scriptures to follow the 
higher light of Spiritualism. " There," said our friend 
to him, "you have rejected that blessed book which 

21 



322 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

has been the light and consolation of the good in all 
ages, to follow spirits who, when put to the test, 
cannot count five." 

One of the test experiments made by a gentle- 
man in Cleveland, the gentleman to whom we 
referred in another connexion, was [the following : 
While a circle was being held in an upper room, 
an individual present was requested to go below, and 
collect, in a particular place named, any number of 
individuals, from those known to be in the lower 
part of the house, that he should choose. When he 
had been gone a sufficient time, the spirits were re- 
quested to give the number of individuals, and their 
names, who were in the place agreed upon. Five 
names were rapped out. On inquiry it was ascer- 
tained that but two individuals were there. Such 
questions the spirits are everywhere and always 
ready to respond to, and for the most part, in doing 
so, are equally successful in betraying their igno- 
rance and folly. Now, we affirm, from the known 
laws of universal mind, that no spirits, good or bad, 
would ever give forth such responses as these. They 
would, in such cases, not answer at all, or give only 
correct answers. Yet precisely such communications 
would, without fail, be obtained if our theory were 
correct. 

In some cases, " the spirits " betray a degree of 
ignorance, or forgetfulness, which indicates progres- 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 323 

sion in any direction, rather than towards higher and 
higher intelligence. Some years ago, for example, 
the whole realm of spirits seemed to have concen- 
trated their efforts upon converting to the faith one 
of our leading editors. He was overwhelmed with 
spirit-communications, urging and entreating him to 
embrace the new doctrine. The spirits compelled 
the medium to write, and would then give her no 
rest till their communications through her w 7 ere 
forwarded. At length a series of communications 
were sent him, each signed, "Your uncle." As he 
could call to mind no such relative who had died, 
he requested the medium to ask his uncle to give 
him his name in the communication next presented. 
The spirit, however, had forgotten his own name. 

We will give but one additional illustration. Some 
years ago, while the people of America were in 
painful suspense in regard to the fate of an ocean 
steamer, the Atlantic, and when " hope deferred had 
made the heart sick" upon the subject, an individual 
who was desirous of crossing the ocean, and who 
shrank from doing it while in doubt of the fate 
of that vessel, entered a spirit-circle to obtain the 
desired information upon the subject. He was a 
most confirmed believer in "the spirits," and is, as 
we are informed, to this day. He inquired of " the 
spirits " if they could inform him of the state of that 
vessel. They positively affirmed that they could, 



324 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

&nd then stated absolutely that, after being destroyed 
by a terrible conflagration, it had gone to the bottom 
of the ocean with all on board, with two or three 
exceptions. These had escaped in a boat, and would 
probably survive to tell the tale of the terrible dis- 
aster. We have all the evidence that this communi- 
cation came really and truly from " the spirits " that 
we have that any do. It was obtained in the same 
circumstances, through the same instrumentality. 
That it did not come from truth-telling ones is self- 
evident. That it came not from lying spirits is 
almost equally manifest from the principles stated 
above. This last supposition also totally annihilates 
all confidence in any spirit-communications whatever. 
The inquirer was in a perfectly honest state of mind. 
He wished to know the truth on the subject, what- 
ever it was, and nothing else. If one honest inquiry 
may be answered by a lying spirit, all may be, and 
all these revelations may be nothing but " doctrines 
of devils." The supposition is altogether inadmis- 
sable, therefore, that real disembodied spirits of any 
character had anything at all to do with such a 
communication. This supposition, however, destroys 
all evidence that any of these phenomena whatever 
proceed from "the spirits," for this has all the evi- 
dence of such an origin that any of them have. 
Apply this principle to the positive affirmations which 
are continuously made by " the spirits " in these 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 325 

circles, and the supposition of their ab extra spiritual 
origin is rendered demonstrably false. They are 
affirmations which truthful spirits cannot, and lying 
spirits would not, make. On the other hand, they 
are precisely such affirmations as we should suppose 
would be made in these very circumstances, were 
they unconsciously produced by the individuals 
constituting the circles, and not by spirits out of 
them. They pertain to subjects about which the 
inquirers desire to be, and suppose that "the spirits" 
are, informed, and the answers accord with the mental 
states, the hopes, fears, opinions, or guesses of those 
who inquire of them. We must, we repeat, reject 
the supposition that this class of affirmations has 
an ab extra spirit-origin. Yet the same conclusion 
which thus forces itself upon us, destroys w r holly all 
evidence that any of these so-called spirit-revela- 
tions have such an origin, for all are given forth in 
the same circumstances and are attended w T ith the 
same identical evidence of an ab extra spiritual 
origin. How any intelligent persons can sit in 
these circles and witness the numberless positive 
affirmations which are there made, affirmations so 
many of which are known at the time by persons 
present, and if not then known, soon after ascer- 
tained, to be false, and yet suppose that real ab extra 
spirits have anything to do with these communica- 
tions, is to us a mystery more inexplicable far than is 



326 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

involved in any question pertaining to the origin of 
these phenomena. A moment's reflection will con- 
vince anyone that truthful spirits would not, and 
could not, give such false answers. They would not, 
we repeat, profess knowledge when they were igno- 
rant, nor make positive affirmations when they were 
only guessing, and not very prudently at that. Nor 
would lying spirits make the same affirmations, 
unless, a case not supposable, their object was to 
unmask their character as superlative liars, and thus 
destroy all confidence in their own communications. 
Yet these very communications or none others must 
be received as coming from " the spirits ; " for all 
transpire in the same circumstances, and are at- 
tended with precisely the same evidence of an ab 
extra spiritual origin. 

We here draw our argument, on this point, to a 
close. To our mind, the facts which we have ad- 
duced, facts the reality of which cannot be disproved, 
and will not, we judge, be denied, clearly and unmis- 
takably locate the cause of these phenomena, how- 
ever mysterious in themselves, within this mundane 
sphere, and as clearly and unmistakably exclude the 
supposition that that cause is any ab extra spiritual 
agency. We leave the subject with the reader, with 
the calm assurance that our facts will not be denied, 
nor our arguments invalidated, nor our conclusions 
rejected. 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 327 



CHAPTER V. 

TENDENCY OF SPIRITUALISM. 

In discussing the question next in order, the ten- 
dency of Spiritualism, we assume, first, that we have 
shown incontestably that all the so-called spirit- 
manifestations may be satisfactorily accounted for 
by a reference to exclusively mundane causes, and 
that to refer the same to any ab extra spirit-cause or 
causes, is consequently a violation of all the princi- 
ples of science and common sense bearing upon the 
subject ; and, second, that, by arguments equally in- 
contestable, we have proven that these manifestations 
are, in fact, produced by mundane and not ab extra 
spirit-causes. The question of origin being thus 
disposed of, we now advance to a consideration of 
that of tendency. This spirit movement is, no doubt, 
progressive, and progression is the great theme of 
its advocates. The question before us is, the direc- 
tion of this movement. Progression may be in the 
direction of evil as well as good, — of darkness, igno- 



328 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

ranee, superstition, and even of idiocy, as well as 
upward and onward towards higher light, and more 
perfect forms of thinking and action. The question, 
whence a thought originates, is not so important as 
this : what is its character ? The tendency of Chris- 
tianity depends more fundamentally upbn what is 
intrinsic in the truths which it reveals, than upon the 
mere fact of their origin; though mental harmony 
with the truth, and faith in its divine origin, are indis- 
pensable to its highest efficiency. Suppose that in 
" the spirit land," as well as in this world, there are 
myriads of idiotic minds, liars, and villains, and that 
they have found out a mode of communicating with 
mankind. Is the mere fact that spirits are com- 
municating with us any reason why we should heed 
their communications, and frame our systems of 
belief, in regard to time, or eternity either, in accord- 
ance with their teachings ? We are not to believe 
every spirit out of the body, any more than every 
spirit in the body. All spirits alike are to be tried 
by the same tests. The remarks which we have to 
make on the topic now before us, will be compre- 
hended under three general divisions — the tendency 
of Spiritualism to the benefit or injury of mankind, 
physically > intellectually, and morally. 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 329 



Section I. 



Tendency of Spiritualism to the Good or III of 



To show that Spiritualism benefits mankind phy- 
sically, it must be proved that, in these circles, the 
health, not of the sick, but of those in a normal 
physical state, is benefited ; and that, by visiting these 
circles, and subjecting ourselves to the influences 
there generated, the most perfect forms of physical 
development may be secured. That which is medi- 
cine to the sick, is poison to persons in health. If 
diseased persons are medicinally benefited by visit- 
ing these circles, that is a sufficient reason why 
individuals in health should avoid those places. We 
may safely assume that no intelligent individuals 
of this latter class ever visit these circles with the 
expectation of thereby lengthening life or of securing 
to themselves or posterity more perfect forms of 
physical development. Suppose, on the other hand, 
that the tendency of the action of the force there 
generated is to derange the physical system, and 
to derange it to such a degree as to disturb fatally 
the normal action of the mind itself. Then, as the 
masses of persons visiting these circles are in a 
normal state, mentally and physically, we should 
be bound to regard the tendency of Spiritualism, 



Mankind Physically. 




330 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

physically considered, as evil, and almost exclusively 
so, and that in a very aggravated degree. 

" Catalepsy/' — one of the most terrible of all phy- 
sical disorders, — " trance, clairvoyance, and various in- 
voluntary muscular, nervous, and mental activity/' are 
among the effects attributed by Mr. Ballou to this 
force, as it acts " in mediums." The reports of our 
lunatic asylums everywhere disclose the appalling 
effects of the action of this terrible force in such 
persons. We once saw a speaking medium when 
" the spirits " were in him. We have no wish to 
have the spectacle renewed. We seriously doubt 
whether "the seven devils" in Mary Magdalen pro- 
duced in her more revolting physical and mental 
manifestations than we then witnessed. Those 
terrible contortions and convulsions of the whole 
physical system, together with the wild and inco- 
herent utterances, — we have often wished to banish 
the remembrance of them from our mind. What 
terrible thirst is often induced in such persons, under 
such circumstances ! A single medium has been 
known to drink more than a dozen tumblers of water 
during a single evening. In other instances, the 
senses are utterly disordered. A tumbler of ginger 
water, for example, was handed to a medium in the 
presence of a friend of ours. She affirmed that it 
tasted like licorice. A tumbler of pure water was 
then handed to her. It was to her as bitter as worm- 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 331 



wood, and so nauseating that she could not retain any 
portion of it in her mouth. Another medium, a 
strong man, when on his way to attend his spirit- 
circle, one of the coldest days of winter, found him- 
self under the influence of this terrible force. He was 
utterly unable to stand upon his feet, and when 
subjected to the freezing cold, with his outer gar- 
ments thrown off, the perspiration ran from him as 
from a labouring man under a vertical July sun. No 
wonder that early graves and our lunatic asylums 
are peopled to such an alarming extent from this 
class of individuals. We believe this force to be one 
of the life forces as ordinarily developed in the 
human system, and, for that reason, a death force 
when developed unduly, as it is, and from the circum- 
stances of the case must be, in such persons. 

Precisely similar effects in kind, though but in few 
instances in degree, must be produced in those who 
frequent these circles. A gentleman of our acquaint- 
ance, a very influential and devoted spiritualist, told 
us, some years since, that he received a special 
message from " the spirits," urging him to devote his 
time and influence to the promotion of this great 
cause, he having leisure and means and a liberal 
education. He accordingly introduced a medium 
into his own house, for the purpose of carrying out the 
plan proposed. The effect of frequent subjection to 
"the spirit" influence, however, was such upon his 




33 2 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

health, that the spirit of his own father told him that 
he must send the medium from his house and dismiss 
the subject from his mind, or his health would ere 
long be hopelessly prostrated. We state this fact 
merely in illustration of the physical effects produced 
by the action of this terrible power upon the human 
organism ; for such we honestly believe to be its 
unvarying tendency. Upon many the effect of sitting 
in these circles is such that it cannot be endured. A 
friend of ours, after sitting but a short time under 
such influences, had to be carried from the room, and 
more than two hours elapsed before she was able to 
return to her place of residence. A medium whom 
another friend accidentally met, some years ago, put 
one hand into one of hers, and placed the other upon 
the top of her head. Instantly our friend felt a very 
strong mesmeric force coming over her, she having 
frequently been subject to it before. We allude to 
this fact as another illustration of the identity of the 
mesmeric force and that from which these manifesta- 
tions immediately result. On the subsequent even- 
ing, after she had been seated but a few minutes in a 
spirit-circle, by the side of the medium referred to, 
she found her eyes immovably closed, and herself 
unable to stir or speak. Her limbs became stiff 
and rigid, and her breathing very difficult, while the 
pulsation of the heart became perfectly unnatural ; 
the feeling induced in her brain was as if a heavy 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 333 

mass of cold iron or lead had been laid upon it. At 
length, by the greatest effort, she was enabled to 
utter a scream sufficiently loud to indicate her condi- 
tion to those present. She was accordingly taken 
from the circle, and after a time was restored to her 
natural state. Such is the effect of this power upon 
susceptible temperaments. Yet the tendency, in all 
other instances, is precisely the same, unless (cases of 
very rare occurrence) they happen to be affected with 
peculiar forms of disease upon which this force acts 
medicinally. For ourselves, we should deem it as 
criminal in us to subject ourselves to its frequent 
influence, as it would be to habituate our physical 
system to the continued action of small quantities 
of arsenic. 

A power which acts with such terrible effects upon 
the physical, and especially upon the nervous, system, 
cannot fail to disorder, to a greater or less degree, if 
not fatally, the normal action of the mind. When 
the physical systems of individuals are so disordered, 
for example, that they cannot distinguish ginger 
water from licorice, or pure water from wormwood, 
which of their senses can we trust on any subject ? 
What court of justice would receive the testimony of 
such persons in regard to any facts which they may 
affirm themselves to have witnessed when in such a 
state ? To such individuals the most discordant 
sounds may possess an angelic melody, and the wild- 



334 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

est vagaries of thought all the characteristics of the 
highest wisdom. These remarks apply, not only to 
mediums, but to individuals constituting these circles, 
and apply to the full extent to which they have 
become subject to the action of this force. When we 
read the communications there obtained, and find 
that sensible and even educated persons present 
regard them as embodying angelic thoughts, we 
affirm that but one account can be given of such 
facts, namely, that the minds of such individuals have 
become so disordered that they cannot distinguish 
the really beautiful, true, and good, from their respec- 
tive opposites. The individual, for example, who could 
not distinguish ginger water from licorice, or pure 
water from wormwood, supposed herself speaking and 
acting under the immediate inspiration of the Apostle 
Peter. As thus inspired, her communications were 
received by her auditors. Yet when questioned, this 
apostle thus speaking and thus received, had for- 
gotten the particular feast at which Christ was cruci- 
fied, the names of the mountains on which Jerusalem 
was built, and all facts of a kindred character. The 
audience, however, which attended upon her ministra- 
tions, and which was gathered from one of the most 
intelligent and educated communities in northern 
Ohio, and was constituted of persons, numbers of 
whom, to say the least, were by no means void of 
intelligence, were not at all shaken in their faith in 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 335 



the reality of the Petrine inspiration of the medium, 
by such manifestations of ignorance. Her incoherent 
ravings, too, were received as the very height and 
perfection of inspired wisdom. To us such facts are 
far more mysterious than any others connected with 
Spiritualism, and can be accounted for but upon the 
supposition that mediums and the members of the 
circles around them are subject to a common mental 
disorder. 

For these reasons we receive, with great caution, 
and with many and large subtractions, the accounts 
of very wonderful events, as having occurred in these 
circles. Such events almost invariably occur when 
spiritualists, with few or any exceptions, are present, 
and when the so-called spirit-power is operating with 
very great force. All these minds are under the 
influence of one common physically and mentally 
disordering force, a force which unifies the percep- 
tions and thoughts of those upon whom it acts. A 
very ordinary event may appear to such minds as pos- 
sessed of even miraculous characteristics. A single 
sound from some musical instrument is raised in the 
circle, or a corrfbination of sounds, which, to an ear in 
a normal state, would grate harsh discord. To minds 
in the circle it may seem as super-angelic music. A 
single sound produced on such instrument, by some 
one in the circle, may subsequently reverberate in 
those minds as the highest melody proceeding from 



336 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

the object referrred to, when its chords are swept by- 
invisible hands. The mesmerizer throws his handker- 
chief into the lap of his magnetic subject. To the 
latter it is a beautiful infant, a bouquet, a golden 
fringed mantle, a fur boa, or a terrible serpent, just 
according to the arbitrary imaginings of the former. 
So, to minds under the influence of the same dis- 
ordering force, in these circles, some quite common 
event may successively assume a corresponding 
diversity of forms, all of which will appear to all 
these minds, not only absolute, but distinct and 
separate realities, which they unitedly and honestly 
suppose themselves to have witnessed. A member of 
Congress, for example, told us that while in Wash- 
ington he once had occasion to step into the room of 
another member, who was a devoted spiritualist, and 
steady attendant on the spirit-circles, a man of high 
worth and much political eminence. In the window 
of that room lay a very beautiful paper-weight, of 
such a form that the rays of the sun shining through 
it were deflected so as to form a bright spot upon the 
wall. The occupant of the room, discovering the 
luminous spot, said, with much excitement, " I do 
wish I knew the cause of that light upon that wall. 
I do wish I knew what caused that light." Our 
friend, who had taken his seat by the window, passed 
his hand over the object referred to, and the light 
disappeared. " There," exclaimed the excited spirit- 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 337 

ualist, " it is gone. I do wish I knew the cause of 
that light." The hand was removed, and the exciting 
vision reappeared. " There, it has come again. I do 
wish I knew the cause of that light." Thus a very 
common event appears to one from whom the dis- 
ordering force excited in the spirit-circles has not 
quite passed away. Let that man return to those 
places, and there again become subject to the strong 
action of that force, and what confidence can be 
reasonably reposed in the validity of any visions 
which he may have there ? The most common 
events may put on the most miraculous forms con- 
ceivable, and, with all integrity, he may testify to 
their actual occurrence in such forms. No good, but 
much evil, physically considered, is to be expected to 
the majority of individuals w^ho frequent these circles. 
Its physical results surely do not and cannot com- 
mend Spiritualism to our high regard. 

Section II. 

Tendency of Spiritualism to Benefit or Injure Mankind 
Intellectually. 

The tendency of Spiritualism to benefit or injure 
mankind intellectually next requires our attention. 
In this respect, the highest conceivable claims are 
advanced in its behalf by its advocates. By it, " life 
and immortality," " things unseen and eternal," all 

22 



338 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

that it concerns us to know, and all that is requisite 
to gratify a laudable curiosity pertaining to the future 
state, are rapped out with the most perfect distinct- 
ness before our minds. Under the tuition and guid- 
ance of " the spirits," fallen humanity is, at length, to 
be led out wholly from the dark and gloomy regions 
of ignorance, error, and superstition, to a limitless 
millennium of mental light and spiritual illumination. 
Our purpose is to bring the validity of these high 
claims to the test of a rigid examination. To have 
any claims to our regard, and especially to the high 
regard demanded for it, it must first of all present a 
reliable source of information pertaining to the objects 
which it professedly reveals. It must also do much 
for the advancement of science, and for the purification 
and elevation of our literature. It is in these three 
points of light that we shall consider the subject. 

Spiritualism not a reliable source of information. 
To us, it is a matter of no little surprise that those 
who seem to glory in nothing but discipleship of 
" the spirits " have never seriously raised the inquiry 
pertaining to the reliability of those revelations upon 
the assumed validity of which they are shaping their 
course, and determining their principles of action for 
an immortal destiny. Had they raised this one 
inquiry, and carefully applied those laws of evidence 
which conduct to a right conclusion in regard to it, 



Scientifically £scplai?ted and Exposed. 339 

we venture the assertion that there is not in the wide 
world a spirit-circle which would now be visited by 
any serious inquirers after truth upon the subjects 
referred to, with the expectation of receiving new 7 and 
reliable information in regard to these subjects, any 
more than a circle of known maniacs would be visited 
for the same purpose. 

" The spirits " are presented to our regard as wit- 
nesses* If they are intelligent, well informed, and 
truthful witnesses, and we can have evidence of the 
same, we may wisely and prudently resort to them 
for information upon subjects on which they may be 
willing to make communications. On any other con- 
dition than the perfect reliableness of their testimony, 
as a source of information, can we be justified, can we 
be justly freed from the charge of infinite presump- 
tion, in basing our belief in regard to the doctrine of 
immortality, or any other important subject, upon 
their revelations ? Now 7 no form of testimony can be 
shown to be valid but upon the following conditions : 
(1.) The witnesses must be identified, that is, we must 
know who are speaking, what are their names, and 
from whence they come. If it is a spirit out of the 
body, or in the body, that is giving testimony, we 
must, we repeat, know who he is. (2.) The character 
of the witnesses for truthfulness and veracity must 
also be fully established. The testimony of none but 
truthful spirits, known and read of all as such, should, 



340 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

for a moment, be admitted, on such subjects as those 
under consideration. (3.) Equally well established 
must be the fact that these witnesses are well 
informed, and not at all likely to be deceived, on these 
subjects. (4.) While there is the absence of self- 
contradiction, in the testimony of each witness, there 
must be a substantial agreement among the witnesses 
generally, on all fundamental facts. Is the testi- 
mony of " the spirits," granting that these communi- 
cations do proceed from them, of this character ? 
Can Spiritualism be shown to present a reliable 
source of information on the high themes and ques- 
tions of our immortal destiny ? We answer, no ; and 
that for the following reasons : — 

1. By no possibility can these witnesses be identi- 
fied. No one can tell, when receiving a communi- 
cation, from whom it comes, whether it comes from 
the spirit of man, from an angel, or a devil ; much less 
can he, by any tests which he can apply, determine 
what particular individual is communicating. There 
is not a solitary test question that ever was put to 
identify spirits, to which as correct answers may not 
and are not obtained when put to spirits which are 
in the body, or never existed at all, as to any others. 
According to the fundamental teachings of Spirit- 
ualism, spirits can read our secret thoughts, and give 
answers to purely mental questions. Suppose we put 
a question pertaining to a subject unknown to any 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 3 \ 1 

person that is now, or ever has been, on earth, but 
ourselves and the particular spirit with whom we are 
professedly communicating. How do we know but 
that some devil has taken the true answer directly 
from our minds, or was present v/hen the event re- 
ferred to occurred, and thus learned about it, and is 
now answering in the name of the particular spirit 
invoked, and that for the purpose of perpetrating 
some fatal deception upon us on other subjects ? 
The voice and manner and even the handwriting 
of individuals may be and are copied, when it is 
known absolutely that their spirits cannot be com- 
municating at all. There is, then, no actual or con- 
ceivable tests by which the witnesses, in this case, 
can be identified. 

2. Equally impossible is it to identify the character 
of these witnesses, supposing them to be spirits. 
That wicked spirits do inhabit some of the spirit- 
spheres, and do communicate with men, in these 
circles, accords with the fundamental teachings of 
Spiritualism itself. No principles or tests have yet 
been discovered by which we can determine the cha- 
racter or motives of any spirit that has ever appeared 
in any of these circles. All the tests which spirit- 
ualists have ever suggested on the subject, are sus- 
tained by no form or degree of evidence, on the one 
hand, and are most self-contradictory and absurd, on 
the other. It has been said, for example, that " the 



342 



Phenomena of Spiritualism 



pure in heart " will, by an immutable law of spirit- 
communication, draw spirits of a corresponding cha- 
racter into communication with themselves, while 
corrupt minds will attract corrupt and lying spirits, 
If this principle really obtains, as the law of spirit- 
intercourse, one fact is undeniable, namely, that bad 
men should, on no account, ever enter one of these 
circles ; for they will thereby become possessed of 
" seven other spirits " more wicked than ever dwelt 
in them before, and " their last state be worse than 
the first. ,, But, then, where is the evidence of the 
existence of such a law ? Nowhere. It is a mere 
unauthorized assumption brought in to save a des- 
perate cause. Granting that these are truly spirit- 
manifestations, we have not, and cannot have, the 
least evidence that any spirits but devils have ever 
appeared in a single spirit-circle on earth. There is 
no escaping this conclusion. 

3. Not a solitary spirit has ever communicated in 
these circles, if any have, who does not present all the 
indications of being a most reckless liar that can be 
presented by any spirit, in the body or out of it, 
Take any spirit that can be named, for example, into 
an orthodox circle, and he will affirm absolutely all 
the articles of the evangelical faith, and assert, with 
equal absoluteness, that no spirits but " the father of 
lies " and his agents, have ever, in any circle, inti- 
mated the truth of any opposite sentiment Change 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 343 

the character of the circle, and on the same spot the 
same spirit will deny all that he has previously 
affirmed, and avow perfectly opposite sentiments. 
Change the circle a third time, and a hundred times 
in succession, and this same spirit will reveal himself 
a stern advocate of- all creeds, and of no creed at 
all, just according to the sentiments of the company 
in which he happens to find himself at any given 
moment. We make these statements without re- 
serve, qualification, or fear of contradiction from any 
well-informed persons in the community. If these 
are spirits who are speaking to us in these communi- 
cations, we should be blind, and wilfully so, to un- 
deniable facts, and to all the laws of evidence, if we 
did not brand the whole mass together as reckless 
liars, and utterly repudiate their testimony. 

4. Not only is the testimony of each witness, in 
this case, thus self-contradictory, but upon no fun- 
damental questions is there harmony among the 
witnesses themselves. It is impossible to bring " the 
spirits " to harmonize in their testimony on any 
such questions. On all subjects we have an end- 
less chaos of contradictory affirmations. How, then, 
can Spiritualism benefit mankind by presenting us 
with a reliable source of information on any subject 
pertaining to this world or the next r If we follow 
" the spirits," we must hold all opinions and doctrines, 
and none at all, as true ; we must revere the Bible, 



344 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

as a revelation from God, and scorn it, as embodying 
a mass of " cunningly devised fables ; " we must hold 
the doctrine of eternal retribution, and believe, with 
equal absoluteness, that all men will be saved ; we 
must entertain the opinion that at death "all must 
appear before the judgment-seat of Christ/' and that 
the spirit may wander for centuries, and, for aught 
that appears, to eternity, in the spirit-land, without 
seeing Him at all ; we must hold that all evil pro- 
pensities die with the body, and that the soul 
becomes perfectly pure as it enters eternity, and 
that it enters this state with the very character 
which it acquired while in the body, etc., etc. Who 
would regard such discordant revelations as these 
— and these are the only revelations of which 
Spiritualism can boast — a reliable source of infor- 
mation on any subject ? 

5. The same view of the subject is most fully 
confirmed by the concessions of leading spiritualists 
themselves. " The spirits," even according to Swe- 
denborg, who claims the most ample experience 
upon the subject, "relate things exceedingly ficti- 
tious and full of lies. When spirits begin to speak 
with man," he adds, "man. must beware lest he 
believe them in anything, for they say almost any- 
thing ; things that are fabricated by them, and 
they lie ; for if they were permitted to relate what 
heaven is, and how things are in heaven, they would 



Scienhjica^y earned and Exposed. 345 

tell so many lies, and indeed with solemn affir- 
mation, that man would be astonished.'' He further 
affirms that they will personate the characters of 
others, and make all manner of assertions, good 
and bad, in their names, so that it is perilous to 
deal with them at all. The following extract from 
the New York Tribune presents Judge Edmond's 
view of this subject : — 

" But Judge Edmonds and his friends themselves 
acknowledge that spiritual intercourse is attended 
by numerous difficulties, and that it is hard to say 
how much credit is to be given to the communi- 
cations of mediums. In the first place, the mind 
of the medium, as he says in the introduction to 
his second volume, lately published, influences the 
message ; then the state of the atmosphere and 
of the locality have something to do with it ; next, 
the harmony or discord of the mortals who are 
present. And, finally, many of the spirits them- 
selves have a very decided propensity to mischief 
and evil. Of the latter, he remarks, 1 Selfish, in- 
tolerant, malicious, and delighting in human suffer- 
ing upon earth, they continue the same, for a while 
at least, in their spirit-home ; and having, in common 
with others, the power of reaching mankind through 
this newly-developed instrumentality, they use it 
for the gratification of their predominant propen- 
sities, with even less regard than they had on 



346 



Phenomena of Spiritualism 



earth for the suffering that they inflict on others. 
Sometimes it is, with a clearly-marked purpose 
of evil, avowed with a hardihood which smacks of 
the vilest condition of mortal society. Sometimes 
its fell purposes are most adroitly veiled under a 
cover of good intentions.' 

H But how are we to know which is which ? How 
are we to know whether the spirits speaking to 
Judge Edmonds as Bacon and Swedenborg — often 
speaking arrant nonsense, and never rising above 
commonplace — are not some of the veriest wretches 
whom he has, in his character of judge, committed 
to the gallows ? What authority is there in any- 
thing they say, more than in the unsupported dicta 
of Jack and Gill, or any other inconsiderable mortal ? 
If it be replied that their assertions are to be tested 
by our reason, or by the evidences to which we 
commonly resort in forming opinions, we rejoin that, 
in that event, — supposing them to be intrinsically 
worthy of attention at all, — they become simply 
intellectual or scientific data, and are not authori- 
tative religious revelations. They are testimonies 
to a new experience of life, perhaps, given under 
dubious and conflicting circumstances, — are to be 
believed or not, as one may decide after investiga- 
tion, — but in no sense veritable or commanding 
disclosures of spiritual truth. They are at best 
only assertions ; and, until the spirits bring us, 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 347 

therefore, a great deal better credentials than they 
have yet brought us, or furnish us with better 
teaching than any they have yet furnished, the high 
claims put in for them cannot be sustained, and 
we are compelled to treat them as ghostly old 
quacks or jokers, — as of the classes spoken of by 
Swedenborg and Judge Edmonds, who delight 
either to mystify or poke fun at us poor mortals ; 
for, as to their cosmogonies and descriptions of 
heaven, thus far, they seem to us the merest senti- 
mentalities or stupidities, of which we can find scores 
that are superior any day on the shelves of any 
library;' 

We once put the question to one of the greatest, 
if not the greatest, of the spirit-leaders in the United 
States, whether he did regard these revelations as 
reliable sources of information on the subjects to 
which they pertain. He frankly replied that he 
did not. "There is not a medium on earth," he 
remarked, " whose communications I would commit 
myself to. If their revelations accord/' he continued, 
" with sound philosophy, I believe them. If not, 
I disbelieve them." " That is," said a friend who 
stood by, " you believe these communications when 
they accord, and disbelieve them when they do not 
accord, with your own philosophy, and that is all. 
Every man must act upon the same principle, and 
we are all left just where we should be in the total 



348 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

absence of all such revelations." The apostle of 
" the spirits " was silenced, of course, and yet he was 
devoting his life to one end — the persuading of the 
public to hang their eternity upon the validity of 
these very revelations. We doubt whether an intelli- 
gent and honest spiritualist can be found who would 
not give the same answer to the same question as 
that above given ; yet he is acting upon the same 
principle as the individual referred to. 

Some individuals, and of these there are not a few, 
seem to be perfectly aware of the total unreliability 
of these communications, and yet maintain their faith 
in them, by mere dint of will. An individual, for 
example, sent a question to a certain spirit-circle, 
pretaining to a subject upon which he desired to 
obtain information. The question was attended with 
this singular statement : that if the answer obtained 
should finally turn out to be incorrect, it would not 
in the least shake his faith in the doctrine of spiritual 
communication. This fact, we hazard little in assert- 
ing, presents the precise attitude of the minds of 
almost the entire mass of those who consult and 
believe in " the spirits," throughout the world. They 
know that their faith hangs upon revelations whose 
validity is perfectly unreliable, and yet, by mere dint 
of will, they continue to believe. 

There is one circumstance, which has, no doubt, 
great weight with many, that should not be over- 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 349 

looked in this connexion. While all the diversity 
and contradictions above described actually obtain 
in the teachings of " the spirits," yet a manifest and 
altogether preponderating majority of these responses 
actually harmonize in respect to certain important 
questions pertaining to the invisible world. Now 
here is a very singular assumption, namely, that amid 
a perfect chaos of conflicting voices, great questions 
pertaining to our immortal destiny are to be deter- 
mined by a majority of responses, and that in total 
ignorance of the character of the respondents, es- 
pecially when it is well known that if the majority 
of the inquirers held the principles of the evangelical 
faith, the majority of these very responses would be 
in favour of said principles, and not, as they now are, 
against them. 

Another consideration has still greater weight with 
other individuals. They are under the firm convic- 
tion that they have had revelations from the spirits 
of departed friends, whose known characters and 
relations to the inquirers preclude the supposition 
that from such sources false revelations can come. 
Now the reliability of these revelations is utterly 
annihilated by the undeniable fact that even they 
are just as contradictory as those obtained from any 
other sources. In the wide and endlessly-diversified 
and contradictory catalogue of human opinions, there 
is not one, the mere doctrine of a future state ex- 



350 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

cepted, — if even this be an exception, — which has 
not been affirmed and denied with the most perfect 
absoluteness by these the most reliable of all spirit- 
revelations. The spirit of the sainted mother of one 
individual affirms to him most positively the truth of 
all the fundamental articles of the evangelical faith, 
together with the solemn affirmation that all spirit- 
responses of an opposite nature are from the father 
of lies. Another individual obtains from his sainted 
mother responses equally absolute, and yet, in all re- 
spects, of precisely an opposite nature. These are 
the undeniable facts of the case, and they leave with 
us no grounds of doubt in regard to the real reliability 
of these revelations. Besides, the relations of "the 
spirits " to men in the flesh, as affirmed by these very 
revelations, and held by all who put faith in them, 
preclude totally the possibility of our knowing or 
having any adequate evidence, that we have, or can 
have, any specific communications with any particular 
individuals in the spirit-land. "The spirits," we are 
taught, are witnesses of our external acts, and can 
read, with perfect accuracy, our most secret thoughts. 
Hence the responses given in the spirit-circles to 
purely mental questions. Suppose that an individual 
in one of these circles inquires if the spirit of his 
sainted mother is present. That question can be 
answered by the father of lies as well as by her. Any 
response to such a question, therefore, is no certain 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed, 351 

evidence of her presence. A question is now put 
pertaining to a subject absolutely unknown, as he 
supposes, to any being but the inquirer, his mother, 
and God. How does he, how can he know but that 
the father of lies was present at the time, as a witness 
of that transaction, or that that fell deceiver is now 
reading his secret thoughts, and that from information 
obtained from one or both of these sources is giving 
forth the very responses which the inquirer vainly 
supposes can come from no being but the spirit of 
that mother, and all this for the purpose of ultimate 
deception on other subjects ? The doctrine of spirit- 
revelations as given forth by (( the spirits'* themselves 
precludes totally the possibility of our knowing, or 
having any reliable evidence in regard to the identity 
of, the particular spirits from whom any given re- 
sponses proceed, even granting the reality of such 
revelations. 

Spiritualism lias not benefited the world y as far as 
scie?ice is concerned. 
But what has Spiritualism done for the advance- 
ment of science ? It has, according to its own pro- 
fessions, brought to its aid the great leading minds of 
the highest celestial spheres, and those minds have 
carried us over the whole field of scientific research, 
in respect to the finite and infinite, time and eternity, 
matter and spirit. What is the result of this move- 



352 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

ment thus far ? Have " the spirits " revealed to us 
any new and important facts in any of these great 
departments of human thought and inquiry, facts to 
the elucidation of which the great principles of 
science are to be applied ? Spiritualism has revealed 
no such facts — not one. Have " the spirits " revealed 
any new and important tests, by the application of 
which truth may be distinguished from error ? This 
is one of the grand consummations of science. Spirit- 
ualism, however, has won no laurels whatever in this 
important field. Have "the spirits" revealed any 
new principles, or truths of any kind, which may lead 
the mind forward in the march of discovery ? This 
is what Bacon did while in the body. He discovered 
and elucidated great principles of science, under the 
influence of which humanity has been progressing 
ever since, and will continue to progress till the end 
of time. Bacon, after dwelling for centuries amid the 
illuminations of eternity, has, according to the teach- 
ings of Spiritualism, descended from the celestial 
spheres to instruct humanity once more. What new 
truth has the spirit of Bacon, or any other spirit, 
revealed, or even suggested, for the advancement 
and perfection of science ? None at all. We have 
sounded the depths of these communications for 
such principles, and have found none. Others have 
done the same, with the same results. 

In no respect is science under obligations to " ihe 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 353 

spirits." Bacon, when on earth, and in the body, 
developed, as we have said, great principles, under 
the influence of which mind has progressed ever 
since. Dwelling, as he has been for two centuries, 
amid the light of eternity, what should we expect 
from such a mind were he now permitted to re- 
appear as the instructor of humanity ? Would he 
not enlarge our vision, open new tracks for scientific 
research, and develop new principles, or more per- 
fectly elucidate those we already know, and thus 
enable us to advance onward and upward in our 
search for truth ? But the Bacon who now stands, 
before us as one of the celestial spirits, instead of 
enlarging our vision, needs to enter some of our 
primary schools, there to sit among children, and 
learn the very first principles of science. The same 
remarks are equally applicable to the entire circle 
of spirits who are speaking to us in these new 
revelations. 

The spirits are continually harping upon human 
progression, and require us, as a means to this end^ 
to yield ourselves to their exclusive and absolute 
guidance. They then reveal thoughts and ideas 
in dwelling upon which progression can result in 
but one direction exclusively — towards degrading 
superstition, mental imbecility, and idiocy. That 
divine revelation which Spiritualism would supplant, 
while it says almost nothing on this threadbare 

23 



354 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

theme, reveals ideas and principles, upon which 
mind cannot but expand eternally, ever developing 
in that expansion higher and higher forms of beauty 
and perfection. When the great apostle of Spirit- 
ualism, A. J. Davis, was in Cleveland, Ohio, he re- 
marked that the Mosaic dispensation had its origin in 
the back of the head, the Christian in the top of the 
head, and the new dispensation, that of " the spirits/' 
in the front of the head ; the first being the dispen- 
sation of force, the second of love, and the third of 
wisdom. When we read that statement, we were 
forcibly reminded of a fact which occurred in the 
place where Mr. Davis commenced his career as a 
" seer and clairvoyant." A young woman in that 
place became possessed of that form of clairvoyance 
in which, at all times, she could see and describe 
the internal structure of the human system with 
all the accuracy of science, and could name the 
parts affected with disease, and describe their appear- 
ance. After listening to a discourse from a certain 
speaker, she remarked that the mass of brains on 
one side of his head was much larger than that on 
the other, and that on one side there was a spot, 
about as large as a dollar, where there were no brains 
at all. We were forcibly impressed with the thought 
that if Spiritualism has its origin in the front of 
the head, there must be in all foreheads where it 
originates, and takes up its abode, spaces much 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 355 

larger than a dollar where there can be no brains 
at all, or anything else which can sustain the weight 
of scientific truth, or of great thoughts of any kind. 
Trophies in the field of science and human progres- 
sion Spiritualism has yet to win. 

Spiritualism itself utterly wanting in all the cha- 
racteristics of a truly scientific movement. 

But while Spiritualism has made no additions to 
science, it is itself, as an intellectual movement, 
utterly void of all the characteristics of true science. 
There never was a movement in which there was 
a greater carelessness, in the following fundamental 
particulars, than in this, namely, in the induction 
of facts, — in deducing conclusions from facts induced 
— and in the assumption of principles. To have 
introduced this new theory with any rational hope 
of obtaining for it a permanent influence over the 
public mind, its advocates should have been exceed- 
ingly careful to have introduced, as the basis of 
its high claims, no statements of facts but such as 
are sustained by the most reliable evidence. They 
should have been equally cautious in the deduction 
of conclusions, and none the less so in the assump- 
tion of principles. What has been their course in all 
these respects ? 

In the induction of facts, let us say, in the first 
instance, the history of the world does not present a 



356 Phenomena of Spirihtalism 

case of greater carelessness and presumption. Their 
reliable statements, as far as they have any, are now 
so intermingled with mountain masses of statements 
which are utterly unreliable, or greatly exagge- 
rated, on the one hand, and which are the grossest 
fabrications and impositions, on the other, that, by no 
possibility, can the public distinguish the one class 
from the other. We will allude to the following 
statements as illustrations. The first adduced was 
given in a public discussion held in Cleveland, 
on Spiritualism, years ago. During the progress 
of the discussion, Joel Tiffany, Esq., one of the 
debaters put forward by the spiritualists, called 
upon J. M. Stirling, Esq., to state some facts. Our 
extracts are from a pamphlet published by spiritual- 
ists themselves : — 

" Mr. Stirling said, I could stand until to-morrow 
morning stating cases which have come within my 
own knowledge, of which none connected were 
aware. I was introduced to a lady in the cars 
near Boston, and soon ascertained that she was a 
spiritualist and a medium. She told me that she 
at one time received a communication, signed by 
Robert Rantoul, saying that he had an important 
matter to communicate. It will be understood that 
his estate was considerably embarrassed. The com- 
munication was as follows : ' I wish you to go to 
such a town where my commissioners are, and in- 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed, 357 



form them that there are certain documents which 
they need, and the possession of which will save 
the estate a large amount of money.' She said 
that having gone to visit these friends, they had 
saved the estate $30,000. I was present in a circle 
in this city, in which a lady was told that her mother 
was sick, and wished her to come home immediately, 
I said to the circle, ' Now this will be a good test, 
for none of usjk^now this.' A few days afterwards 
the lady received a letter informing her of the sick- 
ness of her mother, and summoning her home." 

By certificates obtained from the father of Mr, 
Rantoul, and from the two commissioners and the 
administrator to this estate, it has been proved before 
the public that not one farthing has been saved to 
that estate by Spiritualism. The report that $30,000 
has been thus saved stands forth as a gross and 
shocking fabrication. Suppose, however, that the 
facts had all been found to have been in perfect 
correspondence with the statements made by Mr. 
Stirling. This would not justify him at all in having 
put them forward, as he did, as proof of the truth of 
Spiritualism. He is introduced to a female in the 
cars. Of her character he knew nothing but this, 
that she belonged to a class w T ho had the highest 
motives to report themselves as the mediums of the 
most startling communications. Before any state- 
ments coming from such persons were given forth as 



358 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

the basis of such conclusions as were then sought 
to be established, the individuals above designated 
should have been written to, and the facts, when pre- 
sented, given in the most reliable form. The above, 
however, is a fair example of the manner in which 
the great leading facts of Spiritualism are obtained 
and given to the public. Take another statement, 
given by Mr. Tiffany himself, during the progress 
of the same discussion. 

" I was in a circle in which a communication was 
received by raps in a language which none of us 
understood. No one in the circle knew how to 
separate the letters into words as they were rapped 
out. They were all joined together. Some thought 
there was no sense to it, but I was of the impression 
that there was a connexion in it if anybody knew 
how to divide the letters properly into words. It was 
afterwards ascertained to be a communication in 
French, given by a mother to her son, who could not 
read French. The intelligence, in this case, was not 
in the circle, nor could anyone in the circle have 
any definite idea or thought that it was an intelligible 
communication." 

Now what did this wonderful communication, as 
subsequently explained to the audience, turn out to 
be ? The speaker, on a subsequent occasion, affirmed 
it to have been "a lengthy communication." But 
what was this lengthy essay given in French ? A 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 359 

young lad was present in the circle who spoke French, 
and to the spirit of his departed mother he put a 
question in that language. The following " lengthy 
communication," in the same language, was then 
rapped out in reply, " My pretty little son." We do 
not say that the speaker meant to deceive us on 
that occasion. It is not unlikely that the minds of 
all in the circle were so disordered by the action of 
the odylic force, that they could not distinguish a 
long from a short communication. We adduce this 
case for this one purpose, to show that the real facts 
of Spiritualism, as far as they exist, are, by the care- 
lessness of its advocates, to use no more offensive 
term, so intermingled with those which are sheer 
fabrications or utterly exaggerated, that the one class 
cannot be distinguished from the other. Myriads of 
illustrations are at hand to establish the same con- 
clusion. Reports which have gone abroad of what 
has occurred in the spirit-circles are the most unre- 
liable sources of information conceivable. 

Equally careless have spiritualists shown them- 
selves in respect to the conclusions which they have 
deduced from these facts. Individuals, for example, 
place themselves around a table, and call upon " the 
spirits "to move the object. The object is moved 
accordingly. Without inquiring at all whether the 
same phenomena may not be produced in the same 
circumstances, when "the spirits" are not invoked, the 



360 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

sweeping inference is drawn, that the truth of Spirit- 
ualism has been demonstrated. What a leap in logic 
does such a conclusion imply! Because a table, when 
certain conditions are fulfilled, follows the movements 
of our hands or bodies, what real basis can we find in 
such a fact for the conclusion that some disembodied 
spirit must have hold of the object, and be pushing or 
dragging it about the room ? Other objects begin to 
perform some crazy antics, and we are called upon to 
infer that the room about us is filled with spirits. We 
may justly apprehend, if men continue long to reason 
thus, that posterity will say that in our day, logic, if 
nothing else, "had fled to brutish beasts, and men 
had lost their reason. " 

A similar want of scientific care has characterized 
this entire movement, in the assumption of the prin- 
ciples. The whole movement has, for example, been 
based upon one grand error, namely, the assumption 
that if the leading facts set forward by the spiritual- 
ists were admitted, the theory itself is established. 
Now this assumption ought to have received, at the 
outset, a most careful and rigid examination. But 
no such examination was ever given it. Never were 
men more confounded than were the spiritualists at 
Cleveland when they were told, at the commence- 
ment of the discussion above referred to, that their 
facts were admitted, and their conclusion deduced 
from them denied, and that on this single point we 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 361 

should join issue with them. For such an issue they 
were not at all prepared. The connexion between 
their facts and conclusions they had never examined. 
Had they carefully compared their facts with others 
equally well authenticated, which result from ex- 
clusively mundane causes, they would have perceived 
clearly that they had no facts which were not per- 
fectly similar and analogous to those which result 
from such causes, and consequently none which pre- 
sent the least positive evidence of an ab extra spirit- 
agency. Under the influence of the assumption 
under consideration, Professor Ware, of Philadelphia, 
became a spiritualist. Professor Faraday had made 
certain experiments to prove that tables are moved by 
means of the pressure of the hands upon their surface. 
If he had established this fact, he would have annihi- 
lated all evidence in favour of Spiritualism, as far 
as this class of facts is concerned. Suppose he 
had failed to do this, it by no means follows from 
hence that Spiritualism is true. If tables are not 
moved by muscular pressure, it by no means follows 
that spirits do it. There is in such a fact no 
ground whatever for such an assumption. This, 
however, was the assumption of Professor Ware. 
He, consequently, having proved by the most de- 
cisive experiments that tables are not moved by 
mediums through this one means, became a spiritualist 
throughout. 



362 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

The same remarks are equally applicable to all the . 
basis principles on which this movement rests. Not 
one of them can sustain a rigid scientific examination 
for a single hour. Spiritualism has not only not made 
any contributions to science, but has, from its origin, 
in its process of self-development, violated all the 
principles of true science. 

Spiritualism has done nothing to improve the literature 
of humanity. 

But what have " the spirits " done for the benefit of 
humanity in the department of literature ? Have 
they elevated the tone of thinking and utterance 
among us ? Have they shadowed forth, through the 
creations of the imagination, the beautiful, the true, 
and the good, in more perfect and sublime forms than 
we had before ? The elements of thought entering 
into the productions of " the spirits " ought surely to 
be altogether of a higher order; and these elements 
should be blended into higher forms of beauty and 
perfection than characterize mere mundane human 
productions. The spirits have tried their hands in 
almost every department of literature, such as music, 
poetry, fine writing, and even painting. As high as 
the celestial spheres are above the earth, so high 
should be their productions above those of men in 
the flesh. Is it so ? Are " the spirits " better poets, 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed, 363 

better painters, better composers in music, and better 
writers, than our Miltons and Shakespeares, our 
Raphaels and Angelos, our Hadyns and Mozarts, 
and our Burkes and Irvings ? Unless they are, no 
credit is to be awarded them in the department of 
literature. On the other hand, their productions 
tend most powerfully to degrade and debase human- 
ity, by degrading and debasing our conceptions of 
immortality. We affirm, without fear of contra- 
diction, that the plane of thinking and utterance 
presented by Spiritualism, is not only not above, but 
far below, that of humanity in this mundane sphere. 
For ourselves, we would hardly be willing to " loose, 
though full of pain, this intellectual being." Yet we 
would infinitely prefer annihilation to an eternity 
with " the spirits," if Spiritualism has given us a true 
revelation of the thinking and acting which obtains 
among them. We do not say that no examples of 
good poetry and fine writing may, in instances very 
few and far between, be found in the spirit-pro- 
ductions. But we do say that their general, and 
almost exclusive, character is such that humanity 
ought to be ashamed of them, if they were presented 
as the productions of men in the flesh, and in a 
normal mental state. 



364 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



Section III. 

Moral Tendency of Spiritualism. 

The moral tendency of Spiritualism now claims 
our attention. As far as this department of our 
subject is concerned, we have ho hesitation in affirm- 
ing that the spirits have revealed no new moral 
principles of any kind. Nor have they disclosed any 
new applications of principles already known. They 
have disclosed no new sanctions to the idea of duty, 
nor have they encircled it with any new and more 
attractive motives to obedience. Before any utter- 
ances even professedly came to us from " the spirits/' 
we had a system of morality absolutely perfect in 
itself, and equally universal in its applications ; a 
system illustrated, exemplified, and commended to 
our regard by the instructions and example of One 
who knows perfectly "what is in man" and what 
fallen humanity needs, and in whose character every 
conceivable and possible form of virtue is visibly 
embodied in absolute perfection ; a system, too, en- 
forced upon us by motives and sanctions of infinite 
and eternal weight ; a system, finally, to which 
absolutely nothing can be added, and from which 
nothing can be taken away, without visibly marring 
its beauty and perfection. Spiritualism comes in pro- 
fessedly as a higher light, to supplant " that dearest 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 365 

of books that excels every other/' the only book that 
embodies this divine system of moral legislation. 
Yet every principle of duty which it does enforce, it 
copies, and' very poorly too, from this rejected 
volume. At the same time there is intermingled 
in the moral teachings of " the spirits " principles of 
the most pernicious tendency. Let us consider a 
few facts and examples which tend to reveal and 
expose the moral tendency of Spiritualism : — 

1. The known character of a large portion of the 
mediums, to say the least, does not present the 
system to our regard as tending to any moral good. 
If spirits are communicating to us, in these mani- 
festations, they must know the character of their 
mediums, being not only able to witness their ex- 
ternal acts, but to read their secret thoughts and 
purposes. If men in the flesh are known by the 
company which they keep, spirits must be known 
by the mediums through whom they voluntarily 
communicate. Spirits cannot preserve a character 
for moral purity when they will continue to com- 
municate with us through persons whose character 
we and they know to be bad ; and nothing can be of 
a worse moral tendency than for circles to sit around 
such persons with the idea that through them com- 
munications are being received from spirits inhabiting 
the celestial spheres. The spirits surely have not 
been very careful to manifest their regard for moral 



366 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

purity in the selection of their mediums. One such 
individual, for example, they will never communicate 
through, excepting when he is drunk, and then they 
are ready to use him for that high purpose. Others, 
in some cases, are known to be so morally impure as 
to exclude them totally from virtuous society, except- 
ing when virtuous individuals gather around them in 
these circles, as the favoured mediums of " the spirits." 
One of the grand themes of spiritualists is the moral 
corruptions of the Church and ministry. They them- 
selves, however, have not the effrontery to insinuate 
that the Spirit of God dwells with and communicates 
to men through persons thus corrupt. Yet these 
very men are loudly calling upon us to encircle 
mediums more depraved than they dare represent 
the Church to be, and to encircle these persons for 
the purpose of communing, through them, with the 
pure spirits from heaven itself. Nothing can be of a 
worse moral tendency than such associations. 

2. The character of " the spirits " themselves, as 
they stand revealed before us, renders all our im- 
aginary intercourse with them, as our intellectual and 
moral teachers and guides, of the most pernicious 
moral tendency. When we select for ourselves 
teachers and guides whom we know to be morally 
corrupt, or when we remain blind to the moral cor- 
ruptions of such persons after their character stands 
revealed to us, we are subject to the most debasing 



Scientifically Explai?ied and Exposed. 367 

and pernicious moral influence conceivable. What 
is the moral tendency of Spiritualism in this one 
respect ? 

In general, we would remark, that not one of "the 
spirits" bears the marks of even common honesty among 
men in the flesh. There is not one of them who. 
when put to the test, will not make false assertions in 
respect to subjects in regard to which real spirits 
must know the truth, that will not profess absolute 
knowledge when their answers reveal them as pro- 
foundly ignorant, and will not make positive asser- 
tions when real spirits must know that they are only 
guessing with a perfect uncertainty in regard to the 
result, and all this in circumstances in which they 
must be aware of the fact that their falsifying will 
infallibly be detected. Now common liars, even 
among men, are not in any way guilty of such 
flagrant conduct. While, therefore, it would be very 
hasty in us to say that " all men are liars," it is using 
very mild language indeed to say that all " the 
spirits " cannot be anything else. What should we 
think of men who should be constantly making the 
false utterances which " the spirits " are in all spirit- 
circles throughout the wide world ? 

3. We affirm that meeting in these circles is 
adapted to generate influences and tendencies which 
naturally prompt to the worst sentiments and to 
corresponding actions, and finally to , draw from 



368 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

"the spirits" a similarly licentious morality; the im- 
mutable law of their teachings being to sanctify by 
their authority the sentiments, whatever they may 
be, of the circles which entertain them as teachers 
and guides. For men and women to get together 
in circles, and there, that spirits, they know not 
whom, and coming they know not from whence, 
may take the most complete control of their mental 
and physical powers, divesting themselves as far as 
possible of all independent thought or purpose, tends 
to but one result — to banish rational thought, and 
to impart to the sensual in man the most full and 
controlling development, and finally to prepare the 
mind to receive the most senseless puerilities as the 
perfection of wisdom, and the most licentious prin- 
ciples and sentiments as the highest and purest 
morality. 

This we affirm to be the certain tendency of this 
mission of "the spirits," a tendency in which their 
moral character, supposing them to be real sub- 
stantialities, is being distinctly unmasked. For 
ourselves, we would as soon inhale the malaria of 
our brothels and pest-houses as a means of moral 
and physical health, as subject ourselves to the teach- 
ings of "the spirits" as a means of intellectual and 
spiritual growth and development. 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 369 

Summary statement of the tendencies of 
Spiritualism. 

Spiritualism, then, we regard, with very few and 
slight exceptions, as, in its fundamental tendencies, 
"evil, and only evil continually/' and that for the 
following reasons, among others :— 

1. With the exceptions named, its medicinal effects 
in a few forms of disease, it tends to no form of good 
to humanity, physical, intellectual, or moral. 

2. Subjection to the influences generated in these 
circles very strongly tends to a great, and in many 
instances fatal, derangement of the physical system 
of those in health, and to a corresponding derange- 
ment of their mental powers. 

3. While it tends to unsettle our faith in a reve- 
lation absolutely sufficient and reliable in regard to 
all questions pertaining to human duty and destiny, 
Spiritualism induces a reliance for information on 
the greatest of human concernments,— questions per- 
taining to God, duty, immortality, and retribution, 
— upon sources the most unreliable and deceptive 
conceivable. 

4. It tends to abstract and withhold our regard 
from all that is really great, beautiful, true, and 
good, and to generate an absorbing interest in the 
most childish subjects, and the most puerile and 
senseless forms of thought. 

5. It tends, in the strongest manner, to degrade 

24 



37° Phenomena of Spiritualis7n 

and limit the action of the human mind, by giving 
to these senseless puerilities the greatest influence 
over it, in consequence of inducing the belief that 
they are the high forms of thinking descended to 
us from the high intelligences of the universe. 
Nothing but this one idea — the origin of these 
spirit-productions — has saved them hitherto from 
the universal contempt and ridicule of the world ; 
and this is what imparts to them their great power 
to degrade and debase human thinking just as far 
as these productions become objects of public 
interest. 

6. It presents, while it tends to nothing good, 
the greatest facilities for artful and unprincipled 
men and women to practise the grossest and most 
dangerous deceptions upon the public, and holds 
out to such persons the most persuasive motives to 
perpetrate such criminalities. To gain the greatest 
celebrity and influence, individuals of this class must 
become mediums of the most wonderful manifesta- 
tions, physical and mental. Hence the so frequent 
resort to deception and imposition, on the part of 
mediums ; and there is no place so favourable to the 
perpetration of such crimes as the spirit-circles. 

7. While Spiritualism has already begun to de- 
velop the worst and most debasing moral principles 
that the seethings of human depravity have yet 
thrown upon the surface of society, the intrinsic 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 371 

tendencies of the system render it certain that this 
is but the beginning of what is yet to be. 

8. The influences naturally and necessarily gene- 
rated in these circles, tend ultimately, with an un- 
erring certainty, to secure an open and unblushing 
conformity to those principles. 

Such is an honest statement of an honest estimate 
on our part, of the real tendencies of this system, 
as it now stands before the public. We leave the 
portrait to speak for itself. 



372 



Phenomena of Spiritualism 



CHAPTER VI. 

MISCELLANEOUS TOPICS. 
FEW topics of a miscellaneous character, but 



^ which have an important bearing upon our 
present investigations, have been reserved for a dis- 
tinct and separate consideration in the present 
chapter. The principles which we have elucidated 
will be found to be quite extensive and important 
in their applications. Through them many facts 
which have hitherto appeared utterly mysterious and 
inexplicable, admit of a ready and consistent ex- 
planation. We will specify a few of these facts, as 
examples. 

Section I. 

Special Facts connected with Spiritualism, 

There is a certain class of what may be de- 
nominated special facts connected with these spirit- 
manifestations, facts upon which very special . de- 




Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 373 



pendence is placed by spiritualists in establishing 
the claims of their theory, and which consequently 
demand a particular notice before closing our dis- 
cussion of this subject. Speaking mediums, for 
example, will sometimes copy the manner and voice 
of persons they never saw, persons now dead. 
Writing mediums copy, in a similar manner, the 
handwriting of such individuals. Individuals, in 
these circles, and after having been subject to the 
influences there developed, have peculiar tactual 
impressions, as of individuals taking them by the 
hand, or grasping or affectionately touching their 
limbs, etc. In other instances still, spirits stand 
revealed apparently in visible form to mediums and 
others, and, as it seems to them, hold audible con- 
versation with them. Finally, some mediums speak 
and write in languages with which they are totally 
unacquainted. Now we affirm in general that no 
argument can be legitimately deduced from such 
facts (their reality being admitted) in favour of 
Spiritualism, for the obvious reason that precisely 
similar facts occur from known mundane causes. 
Here, as we have already observed, lies the great 
error of spiritualists in all their facts and reasonings. 
They have entirely overlooked the fundamental and 
undeniable principle, that they must adduce facts 
which never result from the action of exclusively 
mundane causes, before they can infer, as even pro- 



374 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

bable, the conclusion of an ab extra spirit-agency 
in the production of any phenomena in the world 
around us. Let us more particularly examine the 
different classes of facts above referred to. 

Copying the voice, manner y and handwriting of 
individuals. 

In regard to the class of cases in which mediums 
imitate, more or less accurately, the voice, manner, 
and handwriting of persons they have never seen, 
we remark that no argument can be adduced from 
such facts in favour of Spiritualism, for the following 
reasons : — 

I. In the spirit-circles themselves these phenomena 
do occur, when no spirits at all, and especially the 
spirits supposed, can be present. The case cited 
above, which occurred in Cleveland, is a very striking 
and conclusive example of this class »of facts. The 
manner, voice, and forms of expression of the young 
man are quite peculiar and unique ; yet they were 
all so perfectly imitated by a total stranger, and 
that a female, that it seemed to his mother that 
her son stood directly in her presence, that son at 
the same time being not dead, but alive. No one 
also will have the credulity to suppose that the 
medium, a young lady in Boston, imitated the hand- 
writing of her cousin through the influence of the 
spirit of that individual, or of any other disembodied 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 375 

spirit That which is done without the presence 
and agency of spirits, can never, without a violation 
of all the laws of correct reasoning, be adduced to 
prove their presence and agency. 

2. These same phenomena occur under the influ- 
ence of exclusively mundane causes, being the not 
uncommon facts which attend the action of the 
odylic force, as developed in cases of mesmerism 
and clairvoyance. 

3. It would be an exception to the law which 
controls the action of this force, an exception for 
which no account could be given, did these facts 
not occur in connexion with these manifestations, 
supposing spirits to have no connexion with them. 

Tactual impressions. 

Precisely similar remarks apply to all the - facts 
coming under the class of tactual impressions, The 
mother referred to, as soon as she came under the 
influence of the force developed in the spirit-circle, 
had the same sensations that she would have done 
had her hand been grasped by some friend in 
affectionate salutation ; yet no spirit was there. A 
gentleman who had had great experience of the 
action of this same force, told us that on waking 
from sleep at one time, a sleep which occurred after 
he had been subject to the strong action of that 



376 Phenomena of ' Spiritualism 

force, all consciousness with him was confined exclu- 
sively to his right arm. He at first honestly sup- 
posed that his own body was that of another person 
lying by his side, and when he took hold of his own 
left hand, he supposed he had grasped that of an- 
other individual. These tactual impressions are, of 
almost all others, of the least weight in favour of 
Spiritualism. If just such impressions were not 
experienced in these circles, by those who subject 
themselves to the influences there generated, the 
facts of Spiritualism would be more unaccountable 
than they now are. If these impressions are con- 
clusive for the presence and agency of the spirits 
of men as the cause of such phenomena, the sensa- 
tions of persons in delirium tremens, and when 
affected with other forms of disease, are equally 
conclusive for the presence and agency of the 
spirits of serpents crawling over and encircling their 
bodies. 

Seeing spirits. 
But spiritualists proclaim, that mediums and 
others have at times, what seems evident to them 
at least, a direct and immediate vision of spirits, of 
their form, size, and complexion. That they have 
such visions we have no disposition to doubt or 
deny. The question for us to decide is, are these 
visions valid for the reality of their supposed objects ? 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 377 

That they are not, we argue from the following con- 
siderations : — 

1. Many of these visions are of such a character 
as to preclude the supposition that they can be real 
perceptions of objects external to the organism of 
the percipient himself, and this class of visions must 
be held as valid if any are. Judge Edmonds, for 
example, affirms, that the spirits which he has seen 
are from three inches to twentv feet in height, 
the largest that he has seen being a majestic and 
well-proportioned female twenty feet high ; that he 
has seen spirits who have been eighteen thousand 
years in the celestial spheres, and yet retain the 
form of monkeys, while others have hoofs and horns, 
such as he has seen in pictures. This is what he 
stated on his western tour, in 1854, and his visions 
are just as palpable and valid as those of any other 
medium or spiritualist. Any persons who credit 
such visions as these, we shall not stop to argue 
with. They are entirely beyond the reach of reason 
and logic both. 

2. Precisely similar visions occur when we know 
absolutely that spirits are not seen at all, because 
the spirits which do appear, if any do, are actually 
alive, and in the body, and at great distances from 
the percipient, when the visions occur. We shall 
hereafter, in another connexion, adduce a very 
striking case of this kind, a case in which a mother 



37§ Phenomena of Spiritualism 

when wide awake saw the spirit of her son, was 
addressed by him, and spoke to him in reply, and 
yet neither that spirit nor any other was present 
at all, as an object of vision, the son being at that 
very moment alive, and about sixty miles distant 
from the mother. The perception, in this case, was 
as distinct and palpable as in any that can be 
named. The mere fact that persons appear to 
themselves to see spirits, is therefore no certain 
evidence that spirits are present as objects of per- 
ception. 

3. Precisely similar and equally distinct and pal- 
pable visions are well known to attend certain forms 
of disease, and also the action of certain medicinal 
substances introduced into the physical system, and 
that when no one has the folly to suppose that 
spirits are present as objects of perception. We 
have only to refer to the journals and productions 
of medical science to find the most abundant and 
absolute verification of the above statements. How 
absurd and unphilosophical it is, then, to refer to 
this same kind of visions as proof of the presence 
and agency of spirits in these so-called spirit-mani- 
festations ! 

4. It is perfectly common for persons, under the 
action of the very force developed in the spirit- 
circles, to have visions, perfectly distinct and pal- 
pable, of objects which have no existence whatever. 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 379 



The mesmeric and clairvoyant subject, for example, 
sees a meeting-house, a mountain, lake, ocean, or 
river ; a man, angel, or devil ; a serpent, a centaur, 
or spirit, and all with the greatest possible distinct- 
ness, just in accordance with the mere imaginings 
of the mesmerizer. On the supposition, therefore, 
that spirits have no connexion whatever with these 
so-called spirit-manifestations, it would be an ex- 
ception to a general law, an exception for which 
no account could be given, if precisely the visions 
under consideration did not constitute a somewhat 
prominent portion of the leading phenomena of 
Spiritualism. Of the validity of its high claims, 
they present not the least shadow of evidence. 



Section II. 

Phenomena of dreaming, and premonitions of future 

events. 

There are cases in which persons in sleep seem to 
have a direct and immediate vision of objects at a 
great distance from them. A case of this kind was, 
several years since, reported in the Cincinnati papers, 
as having ocurred in that city. A lady who had a very 
endeared brother in California, as she fell asleep, saw 
him in his log cabin rise suddenly and very carefully 
from his bed, and having girded on his weapons, look 



380 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

with an intense gaze at a certain opening in the wall 
at the head of his bed. Soon a hand holding a dagger 
was seen passing in through that hole, and passing on 
silently till the point of the weapon was directed to 
the spot where the brother had been lying down, a 
deadly thrust was given. The brother, in the mean 
time, with a single stroke of his bowie knife, com- 
pletely separated the arm from the body without. A 
terrible cry was heard, and the brother, rushing out of 
the cabin, dragged in the body of the assassin, who 
was in the last agonies of death, in consequence of 
having shot himself with his other hand. Such, in 
substance, was the vision which was related by the 
sister the next morning, and subsequently became a 
matter of interesting conversation among her friends. 
A few weeks subsequent, she received a letter from 
her brother revealing to her the fact that on the very 
night in which she had the vision, the identical scene, 
in all particulars, as it then presented itself to her 
mind, actually occurred in his cabin. Whether this is 
an authentic case or not, and we see no reasons what- 
ever to call in question its authenticity, facts of a pre- 
cisely similar character do arise, and this case may 
consequently be taken to represent the class. Shall 
we regard this as a mere accidental coincidence, or an 
actual vision of what did occur ? We take the latter 
supposition. How shall we account for the facts on 
that supposition ? The brain of the sister, as we sup- 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 381 

pose, during sleep, came under the influence of the 
odylic force, and at the same moment happened to be 
in odylic rapport with the scene referred to, or more 
correctly, perhaps, with the brain of the brother. A 
vision of the scene, on that supposition, could not, 
from the nature of this force, but have occurred. This 
perception would have occurred had the individual 
been awake or asleep. The distance of the scene 
from the percipient made no difference whatever. In 
all ages, dreams of this kind have sometimes occurred, 
and in all cases, excepting when supernaturally in- 
duced, unquestionably from this cause. 

We take the following case from " Rogers' Philoso- 
phy of Mysterious Rappings" N : — 

" Rev. Joseph Wilkins, an English dissenting minis- 
ter, relating the case of himself, says : ' Being one 
night asleep, I dreamed that I was travelling to Lon- 
don, and, as it would not be much out of my way, I 
would go by Gloucestershire, and call upon my 
friends/ Accordingly he seemed to have arrived at 
his father s house ; but, finding the front door closed, 
he went round to the back, and there entered. The 
family, however, being already in bed, he seemed to 
ascend the stairs and enter his father's bedchamber. 
He found him asleep; but, to his mother, who seemed 
awake, he said, as he walked round to her side of the 
bed, ' Mother, I am going a long journey, and am 
come to bid you good-bye : ' to which she answered 



382 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

'Oh, dear son, thou art dead ! 1 This, understand, was 
but a dream, to which the gentleman at the time 
attached no importance. 

" He was, however, greatly surprised when, soon 
after, he received a letter from his father, addressed to 
himself, if alive, or, if not, tc his surviving friends ; 
begging earnestly for immediate intelligence, since 
they believed him dead. For that on such a night 
(that on which their son had his dream) he, the father, 
being asleep, and Mrs. Wilkins, the mother, being 
awake, she had distinctly heard somebody try the 
fore-door, which being fast, the person had gone round 
to the back, and there entered. She had perfectly 
recognised the footstep to be that of her son, who 
ascended the stairs, and, entering the bedchamber, 
had said to her, ' Mother, I am going a long journey, 
and am come to wish you good-bye/ Whereupon she 
had answered, ' Oh^dear son, thou art dead V Much 
alarmed, she had awakened her husband, and related 
what had occurred, assuring him that it was not a 
dream, for that she had not been asleep at all. 

"Mr. Wilkins remarks that this singular circum- 
stance took place in the year 1754, when he was living 
at Ottery ; and that he had frequently discussed the 
subject with his mother, with whom the impression 
was even stronger than on himself. Neither death nor 
anything else remarkable ensued ; and he had no idea 
of a journey." 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 383 

To us, the explanation of this fact, whose authen- 
ticity cannot properly be doubted, is quite easy and 
manifest. When two minds, or rather brains, happen 
to be in strong odylic rapport, the mental states of 
one are reproduced in the mind of the other. Dis- 
tance of locality makes no difference whatever. . In 
this case, the brains of the mother and son were in 
this relation, and hence the vision of the latter in a 
dream became an object of perception to the former 
when awake, just as the imaginings of the mesmer- 
izer become preceptions in the mind of his subject. 

In the same manner the brains of two individuals, 
when both are asleep, and at a great distance from 
each other, may come into odylic rapport with each 
other, so that the mental apprehensions of one may 
thereby be reproduced in the mind of the other, and 
thus each have the same vision or dream at the same 
moment. We received, several years since, from a 
gentleman whose testimony no one acquainted with 
him will doubt, a statement of an affecting fact of this 
kind which occurred in his own experience. When a 
youth, he had a pair of twin brothers whom he most 
tenderly loved. At length one of them died. His 
heart was then intensely entwined around the other, 
little Freddy, as he called him. At one time, when he 
was some fifteen or twenty miles from home, em- 
ployed as a clerk in a store, he had in his sleep the 
following vision. He thought that at night he ap- 



384 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

proached the front door of his father's residence, and 
on attempting to open it, found it fastened. He then 
went round to the back door and entered into a large 
kitchen, in a remote corner of which was a recess 
where his parents were accustomed to sleep. The 
room, as he thought, was at the time lighted up by a 
small fire which was still burning. As he entered the 
room, his mother extended her arms towards him, and 
exclaimed, " Oh, William !" As he came to her, and 
they were locked in each other's arms, she said to him, 
"Freddy is dead!" They then wept together, while 
the arms of each were encircling the other, for a long 
time, till, from excess of grief, he awoke, and found 
his pillow drenched in tears. About one o'clock in 
the afternoon of that day, his cousin drove up to the 
door. As they met, the young man exclaimed, " I 
know what you have come for. Freddy is dead." "Yes," 
was the reply, " Freddy is dead, and I have come for 
you." After he had been home a little while, his 
father said to him, " Your mother had a very singular 
dream last night. She thought that you came to the 
front door, and finding it fastened, you came round 
by the back door, and entered our room. As you 
entered, she extended her arms towards you, and 
exclaimed, 'Oh, William V You came to her, and as 
each was encircled in the other's arms, she said to 
you, 1 Freddy is dead,' and thus embracing each other, 
you wept together for a long time." The same identi- 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 385 

cal vision had, as nearly as it could be ascertained, at 
the same time passed before the mind of the mother 
and the son, though they were separated at a dis- 
tance of some fifteen or twenty miles from each other. 
People, if they choose, may call such events mere 
chance coincidences. We judge differently. We 
think that there must have been, at the moment, a 
medium of communication between those two minds, 
— the very one of which w^e are treating ; a medium 
so relatively developed between them, that the 
thoughts of the one were reproduced in the other. 
To us, such facts, which, in some instances, do cha- 
racterize human experience, admit of no other ex- 
planation. 

Analogous facts cf common occurrence in every-day life. 

An invisible force which pervades all nature around 
us, and whose influence we are constantly expe- 
riencing, may not be recognised as present at all, 
excepting in its most powerful and startling occur- 
rences. Of this, electricity may be alluded to as an 
example and illustration. Our physical system is 
no doubt continuously pervaded by electric currents, 
as is nature in its entireness all around us. Many 
events, also, are continually occurring around us, 
indicative, to the careful observer, of its presence and 
action. Its presence, however, is not distinctly recog- 
nised, till we witness some of its more startling 

25 



386 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

phenomena, as in the thunderstorm. The same holds 
true of the odylic force. All nature is instinct with 
its presence and influence, and we are continuous 
spectators of its ordinary phenomena. From all the 
forces in nature, we think that it is distinguished by 
this one striking peculiarity : the direction of its 
activity, the proper conditions being fulfilled, is as 
mental states, and is determined, by the same; and this, 
too, while, as an attractive and repulsive force, it acts 
with great power upon all other objects in nature. 
For ourselves, we believe, and we suggest this for the 
consideration of scientific men and of the public 
generally, — we believe, we say, that in the human 
organism it is the medium of voluntary muscular 
action, as well as of sensation. There must be in 
that organism some such force, a force which, while 
its own action accords with mental states, and is 
determined by the same, controls, also, in conse- 
quence of its peculiar properties, the muscular sys- 
tem, and thus becomes the immediate cause of all 
voluntary motion in the physical organization. This 
we believe to be none other than the odylic force of 
which we have been treating. When it is not suffi- 
ciently, or when it is excessively, developed in that 
system, we then have the various forms of cramp and 
convulsions, and also nervous developments. When 
developed in certain relative degrees in the organisms 
of two or more individuals, then the mental states 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 387 

of one are reproduced in the minds of the others. 
Where people are much together, in the ordinary 
intercourse of life, as in families, it becomes spontane- 
ously developed between them to such an extent that 
they are often thinking each others thoughts, or the 
thoughts of one are reproduced in the minds of the 
others. Tne father, for example, when sitting in the 
family circle, gives utterance to a certain thought. 
Nothing has been said before to lead to it, or to 
suggest it to anyone. Yet the mother and others 
remark, "I was just thinking of that very thing 
myself." Such facts occur so frequently, and in such 
connexions, as to preclude the supposition that such 
identity of thought, among so many persons, at such 
moments, is the result of mere accident. There must 
be some hitherto unrecognised medium of intercom- 
munication by which the thoughts of one mind are 
reproduced in others, The hypothesis before us 
gives us such a medium, and thus explains such 
phenomena. An individual with whom we were 
once familiar has been separated from us for years, 
and for a long period has been totally out of our 
thoughts. He at length returns to our neighbour- 
hood, we knowing nothing of the fact. As he comes 
within a certain distance of us, he suddenly and 
inexplicably becomes to us an object of distinct 
thought and remembrance. When he comes into our 
presence, we inform him that we were just before 



388 'Phenomena of Spiritualism 

thinking about him, though he had not been in our 
minds before for years. Of more frequent occurrence 
are such facts, in common experience, relative to 
individuals who have been separated but short 
periods from each other. The common recognition of 
such facts among all classes of the community, has, as 
is well known, given rise to the old and somewhat 
vulgar maxim, that " the devil is always near when 
we are speaking of him." The maxim reversed 
would, no doubt, be more true, to wit, we are speak- 
ing of him when he is near, and for that reason. 
Facts which are so general, and so uniform in their 
character, in human experience, must, as we judge, 
have a common cause, and that cause must be some- 
thing else than mere chance coincidence. We think 
that cause to be this : when individuals come into 
the vicinity of each other, the odylic relations 
between them not unfrequently happen to be such 
that the thoughts of one are reproduced, to a certain 
but limited extent, of course, in the mind of the other, 
and thus the thoughts of one are turned to the other. 
Thus we have these common facts of human ex- 
perience. A moment's reflection will convince the 
reader that there is nothing incredible in such a sup- 
position. The dog, for example, passes along where 
his master and many others had passed hours or days 
previous. The animal immediately distinguishes the 
track of his master from all the others, and thus 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 389 

traces him out, Such facts necessitate one of two 
conclusions, Either something passed from the 
organism of the master to the objects upon which he 
trod, and remained there till, and no doubt after, the 
time referred to, or owing tc peculiarities of physical 
state and constitution, a cause in that organism de- 
veloped in the objects touched, a peculiar force not 
developed to so great an extent before, and this force 
passing from the organism to those objects, or by 
contact of the organism developed in those objects, 
was the cause of the peculiar effect upon the animal, 
an effect by which the latter was enabled to follow 
the track of the former, and trace him out. Of the 
truth of one or the other of these suppositions there 
can be no doubt. Now if a mere momentary contact 
may produce effects from which such results arise, is 
it at all incredible that from the organisms of indi- 
viduals, when in a certain vicinity to each other, and 
when certain conditions are fulfilled, influences should 
go forth from one to the other, by which common 
sensations shall be induced in the minds in those 
organisms, sensations through which the same 
thoughts shall be induced, at the same moment, in 
each mind alike ? To us nothing is more reasonable 
than such a supposition, and nothing more accordant 
with the analogy of known facts in the world around 
us. 



39^> Phenomena of Spiritualism 

Premonitions of future events. 
There are cases in which individuals have premoni- 
tions of coming events, premonitions which can 
hardly be regarded, with a show of reason, as acci- 
dental creations of the imagination which, by mere 
accident, happen to be true. We need not specify 
cases. It is enough to say that they have been 
matters of more or less frequent occurrence in all 
ages of the world. A gentleman, for example, had a 
vision of the shipwreck of a vessel on the coast of 
Hindostan, a shipwreck in which his own son was 
lost. Months subsequent to the vision, the events 
foreshadowed all occurred in exact accordance with 
the vision referred to. Yet the father was at the time 
in utter ignorance of the scenery where the event 
occurred, and of all the facts of the case. If our view 
of the nature and action of the odylic force be correct, 
the occurrence of such foreshadowings is no great 
mystery, but an event which is to be expected as a 
matter of occasional experience in the history of the 
race. When the brain happens to be in odylic rap- 
port with the causes on which the occurrence of any 
particular event depends, the mind then has a vision 
of such events, however future, for the same reason 
that when in the same relations with distant objects 
it has a vision of the same. No person has as much 
reason to expect any such events in his own ex- 
perience, as he has to expect to die from a stroke 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed, 391 



of lightning. Yet their occurrence in instances few 
and far between, in the experience of some individuals 
in a nation, should not be a matter of wonder or 
disbelief. Such, we are free to say, is our view, after 
a careful examination of facts. 



Section III. 

Phenomena of Ghost-seeing and, Haunted Houses. 

Had the son, in the case above stated, died in con- 
nexion with that dream, as it no doubt has happened 
in other instances of a similar nature, who would have 
doubted that the spirit of that individual had appeared 
to his mother ? Yet undeniably no ghost did appear 
in this instance. The fact, then, that the spirit of one 
person is thought to appear to another individual, 
just at the time of the death of the former, or at 
any other period, is no certain indication at all that 
any spirit whatever is present as an object of vision. 
The vision may have been, and, till we have posi- 
tive proof to the contrary, must be held to have been, 
a mere mental hallucination occasioned by the fact 
that the brain of the person dying happened, at the 
time, to come into odylic rapport with that of the 
subject of the vision. The fact, too, that persons have 
visions as of spirits, when no spirit can be supposed 
to be present, is also to be assumed as proof that 



392 Phenomena of Spiritualism 



seeing spirits is no evidence that spirits are present as 
objects of vision. One class of persons take certain 
medicines, others have certain forms of disease, and 
Others spend a certain time in particular localities. 
In each case alike similar visions, as of spirits, occur. 
In the two former instances, no spirits are supposed 
to have been present, as objects of vision. Why 
should we suppose them present in the last ? Nothing 
is more contrary to all the laws of scientific induction 
than such a supposition. There is known to exist 
a force in nature, which, when developed to a certain 
extent in the brain, induces visions as of spirits, 
ghosts, etc. All such visions, therefore, are to be 
attributed to the action of such cause, until facts 
occur necessitating a different supposition. We have, 
then, a clear and distinct explanation of the phe- 
nomena of ghost-seeing, which have troubled the 
world so much in past ages, and are beginning to 
trouble it again in the present. Wherever and from 
whatever cause the odylic force is developed unduly 
in the human brain, just such visions are from time to 
time to be expected ; and when they do occur, we are, 
from the effect, to infer the presence of the cause. 
The fact that persons speak to the apparition, and 
seem to receive answers, does not alter the case at 
all ; because just such facts do occur when no spirits 
are present, and the action of the force which occa- 
sions the vision equally accounts for such facts also. 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 393 

What are haunted houses and places of a like cha- 
racter, but localities in which this same force is so 
developed that persons of peculiar temperament 
remaining in them for certain periods, become so 
affected with it that these forms of phenomena are 
induced, that is, visions as of spirits are occasioned ? 
We have not yet read or heard of a haunted house all 
the facts connected with which may not be most fully 
and perfectly accounted for by a reference to this one 
cause. The spirits there seen, and the sounds and 
voices heard, are no more external to the minds and 
organisms of the percipients, than what the mother 
above referred to saw of and heard from her son was 
external to her mind and organism. 

There is one other view of this whole subject also, 
that should not be overlooked in this connexion. It 
is not at all strange, but a matter to be expected/ 
that phosphorescent and other luminous vapours should 
from time to time arise from graveyards and old,, 
forsaken, and dilapidated and decaying buildings ;. 
and that in and near some such places, individuals 
of peculiar physical constitutional temperament 
should very quickly, in many instances, have the 
odylic force developed in their organisms. A number 
of most efficient causes of ghost-seeing here present 
themselves ; causes sufficiently efficient to account for 
such perceptions in the total absence of all corres- 
ponding objects, that is, real visible spirits, Any 



394 



Phenomena of Spiritualism 



such luminous substances rising in the night time 
in the form of columns, as they most naturally do, 
would, of necessity, to the terrified imagination of the 
•beholder, appear as a human body wrapped in a 
winding-sheet, the form in which ghosts almost, if not 
quite, invariably appear. It is the opinion of some 
•philosophers also, who have carefully investigated 
the subject, that the odylic force developed in such 
localities, sometimes, in ascending frqm the earth, 
spontaneously assumes a form somewhat like that of 
the human body, and in that form becomes visible 
\to individuals present, especially if the same force is 
developed in their organisms. Then the same force 
in such organisms often occasions visions as of such 
objects, when nothing is perceived external to the 
.organism itself. It is well known also that this 
force, as developed in particular localities, is attended 
with the very noises, jarring of surrounding objects, 
and movement of heavy bodies, which are witnessed 
in haunted houses. All these causes combined are 
abundantly sufficient to account for all the phenomena 
of ghost-seeing and haunted houses with which the 
world has, from time to time, been troubled, without 
the supposition of spirit-presence. All such phe- 
nomena differ fundamentally from the " angel visits " 
recorded in Scripture. The latter were intelligent 
manifestations made to answer important ends. The 
former are unintelligent manifestations bearing the 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 395 



very characteristics they would bear were they just 
what we have represented them to be. As such, then, 
we regard them, having assigned causes abundantly 
adequate to account for their existence as such 
phenomena. 



Section IV. 

Witchcraft, Fortune-Telling, Manner in which Myste- 
rious Events are commonly treated, 

There are two points of light in which the phe- 
nomena of witchcraft may be considered, namely, 
the leading facts set forth by those who, in past 
ages, have believed in such theory ; and the con- 
clusions which have been deduced from these facts. 
Hitherto there has, for the most part, been sup- 
posed to be a necessary connexion between the facts 
and the conclusion. Hence those denying the latter 
have generally ignored the former as mere illusions, 
and that without examination. Let us suppose 
that each of these questions be considered by itself, 
without any reference to the other, and that we com- 
mence with a candid and careful examination of the 
evidence that exists of the reality of many of the 
leading facts adduced by Cotton Mather and his 
associates, for example, in regard to the subject. 
We venture the opinion that few facts of the past 



396 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

will be found to be sustained by higher and more 
valid evidence than these. Our fathers will be found 
to have erred, not in regard to the facts, — many of 
them, to say the least, — but with respect to the con- 
clusions which they deduced from those facts. It 
will also be found that there was, in all respects, the 
same connexion between their facts and conclusions 
that there is between those of Spiritualism now. We 
have precisely the same evidence of the agency of 
devils in the phenomena of Salem witchcraft that 
we have of that of the disembodied spirits of men 
in the so-called spirit-phenomena. If our fathers 
erred in their conclusions, two millions of people 
(the number asserted by spiritualists to hold their 
theory in America, at the present time) have shown 
themselves to be not more wise ; for the same iden- 
tical phenomena, phy5ical and mental, were pre- 
sented to reveal and prove the presence and agency 
of devils in one instance, that are or can be ad- 
duced to reveal and prove that of the disembodied 
spirits of men, in the other. Are physical objects 
now moved with and without physical contact, and 
that in accordance with intelligence ? So they were 
then. Have we now various mediums through whom 
intelligent communications are obtained, as from the 
spirits of men ? Through various mediums, equally 
intelligent and mysterious revelations were given 
forth, as from devils, then. The witch could do then 



Scientifically Exp lamed and Exposed. 397 

all that the medium can do now. We are just as 
sacredly bound to admit the mere facts of witchcraft 
as we are to admit those of Spiritualism, and have 
just as high and sacred reasons for rejecting the con- 
clusions of the believers in each alike. 

One test which our fathers sometimes applied, in 
determining who were and who were not witches, 
will be found to be not so deserving of ridicule as 
has been supposed. We refer to the custom of put- 
ting individuals into sacks containing lead or stones, 
and then placing them upon water to see whether 
they would float or sink to the bottom, the former 
class being held as real witches and the latter not. 
We learn that the body of Frederica Hauffe would 
float upon water like a cork, and that it was very 
difficult to get it beneath the surface. For the same 
reasons, the bodies of witches, that is of those in whom 
the odylic force was to a certain extent developed, 
would thus float upon the surface of water. There, 
too, was an error, not in regard to facts, but in re- 
spect to conclusions to be deduced from such facts. 
Nor do we suppose that there is any ground what- 
ever for the assertion so commonly made, that those 
w T ho, in such trials, sank to the bottom, were left 
to perish there. They were unquestionably rescued 
by the spectators, and all arrangements were made 
for that purpose. 

Nor, in our judgment, do our fathers deserve at all 



398 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

the ridicule and censure heaped upon them by partial 
and prejudiced historians, for their so-called persecu- 
tions of witches. What were the real facts of the 
case ? The witches, in the first place, professed to be 
in league with devils, and exercised their strange 
power as from them. Then they performed such 
mysterious and apparently supernatural feats that 
there appeared to the public no way of accounting 
for the facts but by admitting the claims set forward 
by this class of persons. They became the sources 
of great depravity and corruption, as well as objects 
of corresponding fear and terror in the community. 
Our fathers supposing, and most honestly too, that 
there was a necessary connexion between the facts 
which they knew and could not but know to be real, 
and the truth of the professions of the witches, under 
that knowledge and conviction proceeded against 
persons making such professions, and executed upon 
them what was then believed to have been required 
in the Word of God, in such cases. We believe that 
there is not the least reason for sympathy with those 
who were making such professions, or that their 
sufferings were beyond their guilt. Those who pro- 
fess to be in league with devils, and perform, of 
choice, acts which can be accounted for, according to 
existing light and knowledge, upon no other sup- 
position but that such professions must be true, have 
no reason to complain if they are treated according 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 399 



to their professions and acts. On the other hand, 
we are equally confident that our fathers, in what 
they did in the case, acted " in all good conscience 
before God" and man too ; that they deserve of their 
posterity pity for their mistakes and commendation 
for their zeal, misdirected though it happened to 
have been. That the innocent, in some instances, 
suffered with the guilty, w r e have no doubt, and this 
should be and is a matter of deep and unfeigned 
regret. 

If the theory which we have been endeavouring to 
establish be admitted, the phenomena of witchcraft 
wears no longer the veil of mystery. Connect with 
the so-called spirit-phenomena of our day the idea 
of an origin from devils,, let our mediums simply 
believe themselves under a corresponding influence, 
and let that sentiment be entertained by those who 
visit these circles, and we should have all the phe- 
nomena of Salem witchcraft over again, and that 
without change or modification. Spiritualism and 
witchcraft are the exclusive results of a common 
cause. The phenomena of each are to be explained 
upon precisely the same principles. The facts in 
both cases alike are real, and the conclusions equally 
false; the conclusions, we mean, that the facts are the 
result of an ab extra, and not an exclusively mundane, 
cause. It would be interesting, did our space permit, 
to draw at length the parallel between the physical 



4-00 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

and intellectual manifestations attending these two 
movements — the one under the assumed control of 
devils, and the other under that of the departed 
spirits of human beings — and show how perfectly, with 
this one exception, they correspond with each other. 
This, however, is not necessary. All that is now 
required is to designate the cause of such phenomena, 
and to show hew they may all be explained in the 
light of such cause. 

Fortune- Telling. 
The common supposition is that fortune-tellers are 
deliberate impostors, who, while they are in a normal 
state, and know themselves to be thus, profess to be 
possessed of a supernatural foresight of future events. 
For the most part, we have no doubt that this is the 
case. We are fully convinced, however, that this 
practice or art has its basis, in some instances, in an 
abnormal physical and mental condition of the pro- 
fessed seer, a condition induced by the odylic force, 
and in which the subject, the fortune-teller, sustains 
precisely the same relations to the individual present 
that the mesmeric or clairvoyant subject does to the 
mesmerizer. After the accustomed ceremonies have 
been gone through with, the fortune-teller goes into a 
manifestly magnetic condition, in which he or she 
speaks, as if a new power and influence had obtained 
full control over him. Soon the secret thoughts of 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed, 401 

the inquirer are disclosed, and facts in his history 
utterly unknown, as he fully believes, to any being on 
earth but himself. In the midst of these, there are 
incoherent predictions of things future, predictions 
which in but very few instances are realized in any 
form, but in some very distant and solitary cases 
very strikingly fulfilled. The power manifested in 
revealing things secret in regard to the past, inspires 
the inquirer with confidence in regard to the predic- 
tions of things future. Here we have another in- 
stance, or form, in which the thoughts of one person 
are transferred to the mind of another through the 
action of odylic force. A friend of ours, for example, 
a lady, once as she was at a distant place from that of 
her own residence, visiting from house to house, called 
at the residence of an individual of this class. She 
had never seen that person before, and was equally 
certain of being a total stranger to her. Finding that 
she was in the presence of such a person, our friend 
determined to satisfy her curiosity by seeing for her- 
self what such an individual can do. After the usual 
ceremony of shuffling cards, etc., were gone through 
with, the fortune-teller evidently, our friend being 
acquainted with such manifestations, went into a 
magnetic condition. Soon she stated, among other 
things, that she saw the husband of the stranger in a 
warehouse, apparently examining it (he had gone on 
that errand at that very time) ; that one of her chil- 

26 



402 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

dren was affected with a peculiar form of disease, and 
described with perfect accuracy his motions when 
under its action ; and then, among many other things, 
related facts in the past history of our friend, which 
she was perfectly certain no one on earth knew but 
herself. One prediction, very indefinitely stated, was 
uttered, which came to pass. " There," says the 
fortune-teller, after a while, " the influence has passed 
from me, — I can say no more." Who does not see 
here the results of known mesmeric or odylic rela- 
tions between these individuals ; relations in which 
the thoughts and remembrances of one are transferred 
to the mind of the other ? A lady in Boston years ago 
told us of a similar interview which she once had with 
a fortune-teller in that city, an individual probably 
now alive. Our informant, whose word will not be 
doubted by those knowing her, was born and educated 
in the state of Maine, where her parents now reside. 
To the fortune-teller she was a total stranger, and 
from the circumstances of the case she felt the most 
undoubted assurance that her visit was totally unex- 
pected, and that she was to the individual called 
upon an unknown and total stranger. When the 
proper conditions were fulfilled, the leading incidents 
of this stranger's life, from her childhood up, the 
peculiarities of her character as a child, special facts 
in her past history, utterly unknown as she fully 
believes to anyone on earth but herself, the peculiari- 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 403 

ties of the past and present residence of her parents, 
and of the scenery about the same, they having 
removed to another part of the state from that where 
her childhood and youth were spent, — all these things 
were detailed with the most astonishing minuteness 
and accuracy, and with a lifelike vividness, in the 
presence of w T hich she seemed almost to live the past 
over again. 

Of the leading facts pertaining to a celebrated 
character of this class, w r ho lived in Paris during the 
early part of the present century, our readers are very 
probably aware. The name of the individual has 
escaped us. This, however, was true of her — all who 
visited her, from whatever parts of the kingdom or 
world they came, were astonished (and her fame 
drew vast multitudes from all parts to consult her) 
and not unfrequently confounded by the minute and 
specific revelations of their past history which they 
would receive through that pythoness. In her case, 
there would be equally strange revelations in regard 
to the future, and other facts unknown to her visi- 
tants ; she, no doubt, while in a magnetic state, being 
a very powerful clairvoyant. Such facts accord with 
the history of many fortune-tellers, the world over. 
The manner in which their revelations, in regard to 
the past history of utter strangers resorting to them, 
are obtained and given forth, is quite obvious. In the 
magnetic or odylic state into which they are intro- 



404 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

duced by the various ceremonies performed, the re- 
membrances of persons present in regard to their 
past history are, through the action of this power, 
and by virtue of its nature and relations to mind, 
reproduced in the mind of fortune-tellers, and given 
forth by them, on the same principles that A. J. Davis 
uttered the present thoughts of the lady in magnetic 
communication with him. Equally manifest is the 
manner in which revelations pertaining to the future 
commonly are obtained and given forth, through such 
individuals. The visitant has in his mind visions and 
plans in regard to the future. Social, and especially 
domestic, connexions may be formed, desired, or 
intended with specific individuals, or with imaginary 
personages imaged forth in the mind in conformity 
with the heart's feau ideal. In the presence of the 
fortune-teller, and in anticipation of such revelations, 
these plans and persons, real or imaginary, are of 
course suggested to the inquirer. Through his or her 
mind they are reproduced in that of the pythoness, 
and by her given forth as revelations communicated 
by higher powers to her mind. It is thus, no doubt, 
that the image of the person with whom conjugal 
relations are afterwards consummated is sometimes 
presented as a prophetic enunciation to the inquirer, 
and by him or her ever after regarded as proof of a 
real prophetic foresight in the fortune-teller. 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 405 

Manner in which mysterious events are commonly 

treated. 

Whenever mysterious events appear, and when 
inferences unfriendly to truth are drawn from them, 
the friends of truth are too apt, instead of acquaint- 
ing themselves with the facts of the case, and thus 
becoming enabled to speak intelligently upon the 
subject, to deny the facts altogether, and that with- 
out examination, and at the same time to treat 
the whole subject with silent contempt, as wholly 
unworthy of their notice. To our mind, no course 
of procedure can be more unwise than this, especially 
among the teachers of our holy religion. They 
certainly should be able to speak intelligently upon 
all subjects which, in the public mind around them, 
bear upon the cause of truth and righteousness. 
Ignorance, in such cases, renders the religious teacher 
an object of contempt on the part of the opposers 
of the truth. It utterly annihilates also his power 
to benefit all who believe the facts ignored. 

Nor does the evil stop here. The opposer of 
truth finds an excuse for ignoring altogether the 
great question of the divine origin of Christianity, 
and without examination denying its facts ; and 
finds this excuse in the manner in which his facts 
and arguments are treated. We cannot ask men, 
with an^ rational hope of being heard, to listen with 



406 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

candour and wakeful interest to our facts and argu- 
ments, unless we listen with the same candour and 
interest to theirs. 

By the same course also the friends of truth are 
sometimes found treating with contempt great facts, 
and the most legitimate deductions from the same, 
as in the case of geology and other kindred sciences, 
when they first unlocked their priceless treasures to 
the world. The friends of truth must ever regard 
themselves as bound to admit facts, however mys- 
terious, when their reality is affirmed by valid 
evidence. On no other condition can they fully 
exemplify the love of universal truth required by 
the Gospel which they profess, or require men to 
admit the facts which lie at the basis of the claims 
of Christianity to a divine original. 

Section V. 

These so-called Spirit-manifestations and Scripture 
Miracles, Bearing of our previous Discussions 
upon the Doctrine of a General and Particular 
Providence. Conclusion. 

Spiritualists everywhere claim that these so-called 
spirit-manifestations are attended with facts which 
have the same marks of being miracles that the great 
facts recorded in the Bible do. Indeed, it is now put 
forth, unblushingly, that this movement is attended 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 407 

with the same kind of supernatural events that Chris- 
tianity was, — events, too, resulting from the very same 
cause ; and that no one can repudiate the claims of 
Spiritualism, without being bound, in consistency, to 
repudiate those of Christianity. It is of no little 
importance, then, that we clearly distinguish these 
manifestations from real miracles, those recorded in 
the Bible especially. 

What, then, is a real miracle, and what especially 
are the characteristics of the affirmed miracles re- 
corded in the Bible ? A real miracle, we reply, is 
an event wholly unlike and unanalogous, in its essential 
characteristics, to any event resulting from mundane 
causes. A miracle that can properly be used as a 
divine attestation of the truth of any proposition or 
doctrine, must be an event of such a character that 
its occurrence can be accounted for but by a refer- 
ence to a direct and immediate interposition of 
creative power ; and must sustain such relations to 
that proposition or doctrine that the reality of the 
event cannot be admitted without admitting such 
proposition or doctrine as a divinely-attested truth. 
Now we affirm the above to be the precise character 
of the so-called miraculous events recorded in the 
Scriptures. Such also is the relation of those events 
to the Scriptures, that the reality of the former can- 
not be admitted without admitting the divine origin 
of the latter. 



408 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

What, on the other hand, is the character of these 
manifestations ? There is not one among them, as 
we have seen, whose existence and entire character- 
istics may not be accounted for by a reference to 
purely mundane causes, and which is not perfectly 
similar and analogous in all its elements and features, 
to events which do result from such causes. All 
these manifestations, in the next instance, may be 
admitted, and with the most absolute logical con- 
sistency the claims of Spiritualism to an ab extra 
spirit-origin denied. 

We will contrast a few miraculous phenomena 
revealed in the Bible with some claimed to be of 
a similar character connected with Spiritualism. We 
will begin with the leading miracles. It is well 
known that there are certain peculiar forms of 
disease which can, sometimes almost instantly, and 
at others in very short periods, be cured by the 
imagination, or certain medicines ; there are others 
which cannot be affected by such causes : of the 
former class exclusively are the healing phenomena 
of Spiritualism. The latter class are among the 
most prominent miracles revealed in the Bible. The 
healing medium, by his passes, may, through the 
imagination of the subject, or through the medicinal 
influence of the odylic force thus excited in the 
patient, effect certain forms of cure. Over other 
diseases he has no power for good. Thus he may 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 409 

make as many passes as he pleases over a corpse, 
and he can never reanimate it with a living soul. 
He can make no approach whatever towards restor- 
ing to a maimed person his lost limb. Yet these 
last are among the most prominent of " the mighty 
works " performed by Christ and the sacred writers. 
The healing power of the medium has no efficiency 
excepting in the case of a few diseases. That exer- 
cised by Jesus Christ had an equal and absolute 
efficacy in respect to all diseases of every kind. In 
connexion with this fact, He did what the medium 
can make no approach whatever towards doing, that 
is, restoring lost limbs to the maimed, and raising the 
dead to life. The power, then, which originated the 
Scripture miracles, supposing them to have occurred, 
differs, not in degree, but in kind, from that claimed 
in behalf of Spiritualism. 

The same remarks are equally applicable to the 
spirit of prophecy. Suppose that we have two classes 
of predictions, each one hundred in number, and 
relating to events which lie equally beyond the reach 
of mere human foresight. Of one class, but one in 
the whole hundred is fulfilled in any form ; of the 
other, not one in the hundred fails in any particular. 
What higher evidence can we have that the intelli- 
gence which originated the latter class differs, not in 
degree, but in kind, from that which originated the 
former? the one being possessed of the most infallible, 



4-IO Phenomena of Spiritualism 

and the other of the most erring, foresight. Such, 
precisely, is the character of the predictions recorded 
in the Bible, and those put forward by spiritualists to 
sustain the claims of their system. The latter class 
bears all conceivable marks of a mere human, and 
the former of a divine, origin; the one indicating an 
origin from intelligence omniscient and absolutely 
infallible, and the other from one most limited and 
fallible. In all respects the miracles of Scripture 
stand in absolute contrast to the so-called mysteries 
set forth by the advocates of Spiritualism. 

The advocates of Spiritualism claim that the 
miracles performed by mediums should rank, we 
repeat, with those recorded in the Bible. To bring 
the subject to a still further test, let this class of 
persons advance to one of our granite mountains, and 
after making their passes over the surface of the 
flinty rocks, see if that mountain, at their bidding, 
will open its sides and send forth floods of water 
sufficient to quench the thirst of three millions of 
people, together with their countless flocks and herds. 
Let these same individuals then approach the Ohio 
or Hudson river, and making their passes over the 
same, see if at their bidding the waters thereof will 
divide and stand in heaps on either side, while the 
people pass over dry shod, and subsequently roll on 
as before. And, finally, let them turn to the sun in 
the heavens, and see if on making their passes over 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 411 

his face, he will stand still for a season, or go " ten 
degrees'' backward. When mediums can perform 
wonders even analogous to these, then, and only then, 
their mighty works may claim a rank among those 
recorded in the Bible. In the midst of these great 
events, there are some, of course, which might or 
might not be the immediate result of creative power. 
These standing by themselves could not be claimed 
as miracles, and could never, if they did stand thus 
alone, be appealed to as proof of the divine origin of 
Christianity. It is this last class exclusively — forms 
of healing, for example, which may result from 
miraculous interpositions on the one hand, or from 
mundane causes on the other — that Spiritualism 
copies or can copy. 

Let us apply to these two classes of facts the prin- 
ciple of science to which we referred in a former part 
of this treatise, to wit, that when a given class of 
facts exist, and we know that a part of them is pro- 
duced exclusively by one given cause, and that this 
cause is in itself adequate to the production of the 
whole, and therefore, to account for their occurrence, 
we are bound to refer them, in their entireness, to 
that one cause. Of the miraculous events recorded 
in the Bible, we know absolutely that none of these 
great central facts can have been the result of any 
cause but the direct and immediate interposition of 
creative power, and that this cause is perfectly ad- 



412 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

equate to account for all the rest. Admitting those 
facts to have occurred, we are required therefore, by 
the universal and immutable principles of science, to 
ascribe the whole together to this one exclusive 
cause. Of the facts of Spiritualism, on the other 
hand, we know with equal absoluteness that a part 
of them are the exclusive result of purely mundane 
causes, and that these causes are perfectly adequate to 
account for all the rest. By the same principles of 
science, therefore, we are bound to attribute all these 
facts to these causes. Thus it is that the facts of 
Spiritualism can be compared to Bible miracles only 
on the principle of contrast. This is the only relation 
that these two classes of facts do or can sustain to 
each other. 

Bearings of our previous investigations upon the doctrine 
of a ' general and particular providence. 
The idea very extensively, and almost, if not quite, 
universally obtains, at the present time, that all 
effects in the external universe around us, miracles 
excepted, occur in perfect accordance with the action 
of fixed and immutable material laws ; that at the 
creation every particle of matter had its particular 
position assigned it relatively to every other; that 
' all subsequent effects in the material universe are 
the necessary and necessitated results of the mutual 
action and reaction of all such particles, in accordance 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 413 

with the immutable laws of attraction and repulsion, 
of chemical affinities and of the vital forces ; and 
that, consequently, each material event is a link in 
a chain of necessary causes and effects, and can 
by no possibility, excepting through a miraculous 
interposition of creative pov/er, be otherwise than 
it is. Suppose that, with that view distinctly in 
mind, we are about to kneel in prayer, and that the 
object of the prayer is to secure the occurrence of 
some particular event in nature — rain in time of 
drought, or the restoration of a sick friend to health, 
for example. What effect is this view of the facts 
of the universe likely to have in exciting or sup- 
pressing a spirit of prayer for the objects named ? 
Is it a view adapted to excite in us the belief that 
prayer " avails much " for the attainment of such 
objects, and consequently to excite in us sentiments 
of hope and the exercise of earnest, fervent, and 
humble but confiding and persevering importunity ? 
According to the view before us, the sick man has 
a certain amount and form of disease, from which 
he can recover but through a certain process, a 
process which cannot be shortened or protracted 
by our mental states. The drought, too, is the 
necessary result of the combined action of the entire 
particles of matter constituting the material universe, 
and must continue till removed by such action, 
action which can but move on in the line of necessary 



/ 

r • 

414 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

causation. Prayer, however fervent, can have no 
avail whatever, to secure the result referred to, 
unless it avails to secure a miraculous interposition 
of creative power, an event which no one anti- 
cipates. In the presence of such a view of the 
operations of the material universe, the mind can 
no more have faith in the availing efficacy of 
prayer to secure such results, than it can believe 
that the same thing can, at the same time, exist 
and not exist. This view also, almost of necessity, 
will extend itself in our minds, from the material 
over the movements of the moral and spiritual 
universe. While we regard the one as controlled, 
in all its movements, by fixed and immutable laws 
of cause and effect, laws the results of which prayer 
can have no avail to change, we shall hardly fail 
to regard the moral and spiritual universe as 
governed by similar laws, laws whose results are 
equally beyond the availing efficacy of prayer. 
Prayer, in the presence of such a view of the 
material, moral, and spiritual universe, may remain 
as a mere form ; and in no other state can it well 
remain. It will not avail, to change these results, 
to inform us that God, foreseeing, at the beginning, 
the prayers of His people, arranged the current of 
events so that they should accord, in important 
particulars, with prayer. From the nature of the 
case, such an arrangement could reach such con- 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 4 1 5 

tingent events but in a very general and limited 
manner. It is, in itself, also, a view of Providence 
in no way adapted to call forth "effectual and 
fervent prayer " for specific results — the form which 
prayer generally ought to assume. The actual 
results of this view of Providence are precisely 
accordant with the above presentation. Prayer 
made for any such results as we are speaking of, 
is, and no one will deny the fact, little more than 
a form, and as a form even, it exists to a very 
limited extent. The spirituality of the Church is, 
in our solemn judgment, being "spoiled through 
philosophy." 

If we turn from this cold and cheerless view of 
Providence, to the Scriptures, we find, not only a 
want of correspondence, but a total and irrecon- 
cilable opposition between it and their most positive 
teachings, on this subject. According to such teach- 
ings, God is ever with us, as " a very present help 
in trouble," perplexity, and want ; able and ready 
to respond, by specific providences, to our individual 
and specific necessities and filial requests, and that 
equally in regard to the demands of our' physical 
and spiritual natures. All alike stand revealed as 
equally appropriate objects of prayer, objects in 
respect to which special and specific answers are 
alike and equally to be anticipated. There can be 
no doubt on this subject. 



4 1 6 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

If we retire from the Bible and the philosophy 
of Providence under consideration, into the depths 
of our own moral and spiritual being, we shall find 
every principle and demand of that nature in fixed 
and immutable correlation to the former and in 
opposition to the latter view of Providence. We 
wander through nature in a state of cheerless 
orphanage, till God is present to us, in all the 
movements of Providence, in the very parental and 
special relations revealed in the Scriptures. Now 
we take the ground that the real providence of 
God, in the movements of the material creation, 
accord with the teachings of the higher philosophy 
revealed through the Scriptures and the moral and 
spiritual nature of humanity, and not with the 
teachings of the material philosophy before us, a 
philosophy which, as we shall see, has taken into 
the account but a part of the material forces of 
nature, and therefore fundamentally errs in its 
teachings pertaining to the procedures and laws 
of divine providence in the material universe. 

As preparatory to the elucidation of the subject 
before us, let us, for a moment, contemplate the 
physical organism of man. In and connected with 
this organism two distinct and, in some respects, 
opposite classes of purely physical forces are con- 
tinuously operating. There are the vital and 
chemical forces sustaining the organism itself, and 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 417 

producing all the phenomena of circulation and 
nutrition, and the attractive and repulsive forces, 
including all the particles thereof, and holding the 
organism itself, like any other ponderous body, in 
connexion with external nature ; then in the same 
organism there is, as we have seen, another force, 
which, in accordance with mental states, acts upon 
the muscular system, and becomes thereby the 
medium of voluntary motion, and may, consequently, 
not inappropriately be denominated the will-force. 

Now this will-force (the odylic force, as we have 
seen) not only pervades the human organism, but all 
nature too ; and through it, as we have also seen, 
when the proper conditions are fulfilled, the most 
astonishing effects may be voluntarily and intention- 
ally produced upon surrounding objects. We will, 
for example, that the hands of individuals in mag- 
netic communication with us shall be immovably 
fastened to the table or other objects, or that their 
fingers shall remain interlocked so that they cannot 
draw them asunder, and these results, all the possible 
efforts of those individuals to the contrary notwith- 
standing, — these results, we say, follow in accordance 
with our wills. Either these events were the result 
of direct miraculous interpositions, or there is in 
all nature around us the very force of which we are 
speaking, a force through which such voluntary results 
may be produced ; the facts themselves, the reality of 

27 



4i8 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

which cannot be denied, admitting of no other ex- 
planation. It is a first and universal principle of 
science, that the government of God over the material 
universe (that being the only department of creation 
of which we are now speaking) shall accord with the 
nature of all the forces actually existing therein. If 
there are — and none doubt the fact of their existence 
— forces in nature which act in fixed and immutable 
accordance with the laws of attraction, repulsion, che- 
mical affinity, etc., then we should expect to find a 
class of events, like the movements of the heavenly 
bodies, for example, events which move on in change- 
less antecedence and consequence, and which prayer 
can never avail to alter. If, on the other hand, there is 
in nature another and different force, a will-force of 
immense power and influence over all other material 
objects, a force whose action is controlled by mental 
states and directed by the same, then the immutable 
laws of science would require us to suppose that 
another class of effects are continuously occurring 
around us, effects which are the results of successive 
and immediate acts of divine volition through this very 
force, — effects immediately produced as existing and 
special exigencies require, and which are no more to 
be regarded as miracles than the other class referred 
to. As thus acting in and controlling nature, God 
would ever be present to us, as accessible by prayer, 
and as the immediate and special "rewarder of them 



Scientifically Explained and Exposed. 419 

that diligently seek Him." Healing mercies, rain in 
times of drought, sunshine in long-continued storms, 
and " present helps in all times of trouble/' might be 
expected in answer to special prayer, and this with- 
out the mind being chilled and repelled from a throne 
of grace by the idea of an immutable concatenation 
of causes and effects throughout nature, a concatena- 
tion which nothing but miracles can avail to break or 
to alter, miracles which no one believes prayer would 
avail to secure in our behalf. To this one view of 
Providence, a view in accordance with which special 
prayer for specific blessings may receive specific 
answers through events which would not otherwise 
have occurred at all, and this without miracles, and 
in perfect accordance with God's ordinary method of 
controlling events in the world around us, — to this 
one view of Providence, we say, a view which also 
accords with the entire teachings of inspiration on the 
subject, and the immutable demands of our moral 
and spiritual nature, philosophy itself, we believe, is 
now advancing, and the faith of the Church will ere 
long not be " spoiled through philosophy," but con- 
firmed by its teachings. The proposition that God 
governs the universe, " not by special, but by general 
laws," we utterly disbelieve, when presented as the 
exclusive view of Providence. We equally repudiate 
the universal proposition that He governs the universe, 
not by general, but by special laws. We think that 



420 Phenomena of Spiritualism 

in the order of Providence, both principles are har- 
moniously blended. Events falling exclusively under 
the first class of laws are not objects of prayer, and 
are never so presented in the Scriptures. Those, on 
the other hand, falling under the second class, are 
such objects — events the current of which God, 
without miracles, may, in the exercise of His 
sovereign wisdom and love, continuously vary in 
adaptation to the continuously varying necessities 
and filial requests of His creatures, just as the acts of 
the earthly parent vary to meet the ever-changing 
wants and affectionate petitions of his children. This 
view of Providence, which certainly accords with the 
teachings of inspiration and the demands of our 
moral and spiritual natures, will yet, we think, stand 
revealed as the only one which philosophy itself 
permits. 4 

Conclusion. 

Such is Spiritualism. We have examined its high 
claims, and found them empty and vain. We have 
handled the spirits, and found them absolute ^sub- 
stantialities. We have scrutinized the facts set forth 
as the basis of the system, and found them wholly 
mundane in their character, and presenting no evi- 
dence whatever of a super-mundane origin. Our aim 
in all our investigations has been a far higher one 
than the mere overthrow of a dangerous. and insinuat- 



Scientifically Explained and \ Exposed. 4.21 

ing system of delusion and error, namely, in the first 
instance, to lay the foundation for a full and satisfac- 
tory explanation of certain mysterious facts in nature 
and the experience of humanity, facts which have 
been in all ages very fruitful sources of superstition, 
religious delusion, and unbelief ; and, in the next place, 
to prepare, as far as may be done in such a connec- 
tion, for a better understanding of the ways of Pro- 
vidence, on the one hand, and of the real claims, on 
the other, of that^divine revelation which constitutes 
the last and only hope of fallen humanity. Our 
reasonings and deductions thus far will speak for 
themselves, and we leave them to the candid judg- 
ment of the reader. 



HODDER AND STOUGHTON'S 

LIST OF 

NEW WORKS AND NEW EDITIONS, 



Lectures by the Duke of Argyll and others. 
In a few days, Fcap. Szv, $s. 6d. 

PROBLEMS OF FAITH : a Contribution to Present 
Controversies. Being a Third Series of Lectures to Young 
Men, delivered at the English Presbyterian College, London. 
Edited by the Rev. J. Oswald Dykes, D.D. 
Contents. — Anthropomorphism in Theology. By His Grace the 
Duke of Argyll, K.T. — On the Hypothesis that Animal Organisms are 
Automata. By the Rev. Robert Watts, D.D., Professor of Theology. 
Presbyterian College, Belfast. — Superstition in Christendom. By the 
Rev. Donald Fraser, D.D. — Scientific Lnbelief; a Statement and an 
Apology. By "William Carruthers, Esq., F.R.S., Principal of the 
Botanical Department of the British Museum. 

Mr. S. R. Pattison's New Work. 
Now ready, in &zv, price 8s. 6d. cloth. 
ON THE HISTORY OF EVANGELICAL CHRIS- 
TIANITY. By Samuel Rowles Pattison, Author of "The 
Rise and Progress of Religious Life in England " New Facts 
and Old Records," &c. 

Thomas Cooper's* New Work. 
yust ?-eady. In Fcap. Sz'o, 2s. 6d. cloth. 
THE VERITY OF CHRIST'S RESURRECTION 
FROM THE DEAD. An Appeal to the Common Sense 
of the People. By Thomas Cooper, Lecturer on Christianity. 
.Author of "The Bridge of History over the Gulf of Time.'' 
•'God, the Soul, and a Future State/' " Plain Pulpit TaJk," 
" The Purgatory of Suicides," "The Paradise of Martyrs," &c, 
&c. 

An American Reprint. 
jYow ready, in Fcap. ^vo, 'price is. 6d. cloth, 1 36 pp. 
THE CHRISTIAN IN THE WORLD. By the Rev. D. W. 
Faunce. 

Summary of Contents. — I. The Statement. — II. The Method. — 
III. The Principle of Pleasing Christ.— IV. The Duty to One's Self.— 
V. The Duty we owe to Others. — VI. The Christian in Prayer. — VII. 
The Christian in his Recreations. — VIII. The Christian in his Business. 

OPINIONS OF THE AMERICAN PRESS. 
"Spirited, earnest, incisive, fresh." — Zions Herald. "Altogether admirable, and 
deserves wide circulation." — The Co)igregatio?ialist. " Pre-eminently a book for 
these times." — Ckristia?i at Work. "Its influence must be most stimulating and 
happy." — Watchman. "Direct, well balanced, scriptural, up to the demands of the 
theme and the period, and written in a captivating style of pure English and of 
glowing earnestness." — Christian Intelligence. 



HODDER 6-> STOUGHTON'S 



New Work by Mr. W. P. Lockhart, of Liverpool. 

Now ready, in Fcap. %vo, price is. 6d. cloth. 

BACKSLIDING. By W. P. Lockhart, of Liverpool. 

Contents. — I. The Solemn Warning. — II. Backsliding in Heart. — 
III. Love of the World. — IV. Luxury and Ease. — V. Bitter Ex- 
perience. — VI. Happy Restoration — VII. Address to the Christian 
Reader. — VIII. Address to the Unconverted Reader. 

By the Editor of "The Expositor." 

Large Crown 8vo, Ss. 6d. cloth. 

BIBLICAL EXPOSITIONS : or, Brief Essays on 
Obscure or Misread Scriptures. By Samuel Cox, 
Author of "The Private Letters of St. Paul and St. John," 
"The Quest of the Chief Good," "A Day with Christ," "The 
Resurrection," &c. 

"These ' brief essays' are the production of a thoughtful, learned and liberally- 
minded man, of whose previous works in the same line we have spoken with earnest 
and well-deserved praise. Mr. Cox's volume is full of valuable matter, well thought 
out and lucidly expressed." — Spectator. 

" The tone of these homilies is wonderfully vigorous, and their standard sur- 
prisingly high." — Literary Churchman. 



HODDER & STOUGHTON'S RELIGIOUS WORKS. 



By Catharine Morell. Edited by J. R. Morell, formerly 
one of Her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools. 

FIRST RELIGIOUS READER. Price Sixpence. Part I. — 
Scripture Story. Part II. — The Book of Nature. 

SECOND RELIGIOUS READER. Price Eightpence. 
Part I. — Scripture Story. Part II. — The Book of Nature — 
Plants. 

THIRD RELIGIOUS READER. Price Tenpence. Part L — 
Sacred History. Part. II. — The Animal Creation. 

FOURTH RELIGIOUS READER. Price One Shilling. 
Part I. — Sacred History. Part II. — Man. 

Second Edition of Dr. Marcus Dod's New Work. 

Second Edition, Crown %vo, cloth, 

ISRAEL'S IRON AGE : Sketches from the period of 
the Judges. By Marcus Dods, D.D., Editor of St. Augus- 
tine's Works, Author of "The Prayer that Teaches to Pray," 
" The Epistles of our Lord to the Seven Churches of Asia," &c. 

"The volume is one of great and sterling excellence, and could have been pro- 
duced only by a man of ripe scholarship and high mental power." — United 
Presbyterian Magazine. 

" Rich in lessons for the daily life, both exterior and interior ; lessons which are 
drawn with much ease from the ancient story, and given in pure, quiet, admirable 
English." — British a7id Foreign Evangelical Review. 



9 

NEW WORKS AND XEW EDITIONS. 



I)i Crozvn 8z^, price ios. 6d. cloth. 

SCRIPTURE PROVERBS: Illustrated, Annotated, and 
Applied. By Francis Jacox, B.A., Author of "Aspects of 
Authorship," "At Nightfall and Midnight," " Traits of Character,"' 
"Secular Annotations," &c. 

"We think this is decidedly his chef-d'ceuvre, and the majority of readers will 
pronounce the book to be the most useful, as well as the most entertaining production 
which has yet come from the author's pen. The pages teem with piquant anecdote.-, 
wise saws, and curious quotations, all possessing a fascination for ordinary reader-, 
but of peculiar value to those who, making the Bible their study, desire to impart 
point and freshness to their teaching." — Literary World. 

"Rich, varied, sparkling, instructive, and amusing. His stores of anecdote and 
illustration, from prose and poetry, from philosopher, sage, and divine, flow forth as 
from a fountain." — Eva7igelical Magazine. 

" The book is a repertory of wise sayings, genial remarks, and apt anecdote, 
strung together by the help of a quick fancy, and exquisite taste and sensibility/' — 
Nonconfo rmist. 

Mr. Baldwin Brown's New Work. 
Just published, in crown %vo, price $s. 6d. cloth. 

THE BATTLE AND BURDEN OF LIFE. By T. 

Baldwin Brown, B.A., Author of " The Higher Life," "'The 
Home Life," " The Soul's Exodus," &c, 6cc. 

" Discourses of a high order of eloquence. Neither ignoring nor evading the 
difficulties of the present day. The preacher takes his stand manfully on the old 
teaching of the Apostles as applicable in practice now as eighteen centuries ago." — 
Graphic. 

"This is emphatically an every day book, and all thinking readers will find it 
good and helpful. Mr. Brown is always eloquent, but never more so than when he 
treats, as he does here, of practical religion and its place in the world. Both on 
account of its literary merits and for its extreme utility, this little volume must be 
placed far above the average of pulpit utterances, and, once in the hands of its 
readers, the beauty and eloquence of its style will secure their attention to the end.' 
—Rock. 

Dr. Horace Bushnell's New Views on the Atonement. 

Second Edition. Crozvn Svo, price $s. 

FORGIVENESS AND LAW : Grounded in Principles 
Interpreted by Human Analogies. By Horace Bush- 
nell. D.D., Author of a Nature and the Supernatural, '" ''The 
Vicarious Sacrifice," &c. 

"The subtlest and ablest defence of Christian dogma, on the basis of human 
analogy, since the marvellous production of ' Butler's Analogy.' " — John Bull. 

" There is a completeness as well as a simplicity in the idea of Christ's sacrifice 
here expounded which lead us to hope that it will soon be adopted as the basis of a 
systematic account of the doctrine of salvation. Maturity of thought and richness of 
illustration are striking characteristics of the book, which, we believe, will be found 
to contain the more, and be the more satisfactory, the more carefully it is studied." — 
Nonconformist. 

A Layman's Reply to "Supernatural Religion. *' 

Just published, Crown Svo, $s. 6d. cloth. 

THE WAVE OF SCEPTICISM AND THE ROCK OF 
TRUTH. A Popular Reply to "Supernatural Re- 
ligion." By M. H. Habershon. 

" In seven short chapters the writer traverses the whole ground, and strikes home 
with great vigour and skill. The work may be warmly commended as a popular 
and fair reply to a book that abounds in one-sided statement and infidel assertion. " — 
Freeman. 



NEW WORKS AND NEW EDITIONS. 



Dr. Oswald Dykes on the Primitive Church. 

Now ready ; Second E ditto it, Crozvn Svo, cloth, Js. 6d. 

FROM JERUSALEM TO ANTIOCH : Sketches of 
Primitive Church Life. By the Rev. J. Oswald Dykes, 
D.D., Author of "The Beatitudes of the Kingdom," &c. 

" A treatise on the Acts of the Apostles, from the Ascension of the Lord to the 
Foundation of the Church in Antioch, preparatory to the missionary work among the 
Gentiles — at once philosophical in its scope, critical in its method, popular in its 
style, and evangelical in its spirit." — Rev. W. Arnot in the Family Treasury. 

New Work by Rev. W. Jackson, M.A., Bampton Lecturer 

Elect. 

Now ready, in Demy Svo, 12s. cloth. 
THE PHILOSOPHY OF NATURAL THEOLOGY : 
An Essay in Confutation of the Scepticism of the 
Present Day. By the Rev. William Jackson, M.A., F.S.A., 
formerly Fellow of Worcester College, Author of " Positivism," 
&c. 

Professor van Oosterzee's New Work. 



THE IMAGE OF CHRIST AS PRESENTED IN 
SCRIPTURE. An Inquiry concerning the Person 
and Work of the Redeemer. By Rev. J. J. Van 
Oosterzee, D.D., Professor of Theology in the University of 
Utrecht. Translated by the Rev. Maurice J. Evans, B. A. 

From the Literary Churchman, March 13, 1875. 

" It is marked by a width of treatment, a marked reverence of tone, and a uniform 
orthodoxy of statement which render the work in our judgment of the highest 
practical value. We feel bound to express emphatically our entire agreement with 
the views expressed in the present volume, and our cordial appreciation of the good 
work done in it. The ground plan of the book is a wide and bold one. Commencing 
with the consideration of ' the Son of God before his Incarnation/ the author treats 
in succession His relation to the Divine Nature, to the Creation, to humanity in 
general, and specifically to the people of Israel, into whose midst He was one day 
to be born. . . . Then, in Part II. he passes on to 4 Christ in the Flesh.' (a) The 
voluntary Incarnation, (b) the Earthly Appearing, (c) the deep Humiliation, (d) the 
beginning of the Exaltation. . . . Part III. passes onward to 'the God-man in 
glory,' and undoubtedly these final chapters form a suitable and noble close to a 
valuable work. The spirit of faith and of reverence rests upon its pages in no 
common degree. It is a worthy accomplishment of a very difficult task. A word of 
praist is due to the translator, who has done his work excellently well." 



New and Cheaper Edition, with an Introduction by Rev. W. MoRLEY 
Punshon, LL.D., and Fine Portrait, Crown %vo, clothes. 

THE LIFE OF THE REV. ALFRED COOKMAN, 

of the Methodist Episcopal Church of America, with an account 
of his Father, the Rev. G. G. Cookman. By the Rev. II. B. 
Ridgaway, D.D. 

"We confess to having been taken completely captive by this beautiful book- 
If we mistake not it will prove to be one of the richest biographical treasures of the 
Church." — Watchman. 

"The life of one who realised, as perfectly as mortal can, the union of God and 
man, which alone is able to lift humanity to its highest level. Magnanimous, true, 
wise, loving, and godly, he preached and he lived Christianity. No one can read 
this volume without catching a glimpse of the romance and the possibility of self- 
surrender." — Congregationalism 



yust published, in demy %vo, price \2s. cloth. 



The Record of a Holy Life. 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiniiiii 



0 021 064 139 7 



